technology enabled citizen participation in nairobi slum ... · with specialization in transport...

Technology Enabled Citizen Participation

in Nairobi Slum Upgrades

by

Sonja Dögg Dawson Pétursdóttir

Thesis in Civil Engineering

with specialization in Transport and Urban Planning

Master of Science

December 2011




Thesis submitted to the School of Science and Engineering

at Reykjavík University in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the Master of Science degree in

Civil Engineering with specialization in

Transport and Urban Planning

December 2011

Supervisors:

Ásdís Hlökk Theodórsdóttir

Adjunct Professor, Reykjavík University, Iceland

Lars Peter Jensen

Project Manager, Colas, Denmark

Examiner:

Magnfríður Júlíusdóttir

Assistant Professor, University of Iceland, Iceland

i

Abstract

Urbanization is one of the key issues faced by humanity. As the population of cities grows

steadily every year, the urban slums grow bigger and will continue to do so if nothing is done

to prevent the growth. One of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) set by the United

Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is to improve the lives of at least 100 million slum

dwellers by the year 2020. To achieve this aim, governments around the world are driving

slum upgrade programs.

In 2001, the Government of Kenya and UN-HABITAT established a program to address the

issues of slums in Kenya. This 15-year program, called the Kenya Slum Upgrading

Programme (KENSUP), has the objective of improving the overall livelihoods of the slum

dwellers by improving shelter, infrastructure services, land tenure and employment

opportunities.

This research looks at Kibera, the largest slum in Kenya, which is part of KENSUP, as well as

Mathare, the second-largest slum in Nairobi, which is not part of the program. The research

looks at urban slum upgrade projects in both slums that have completed projects and others

that are currently in progress. In particular it looks at how citizens have been included in the

two different upgrades and at what level they were involved, if at all.

Based on the experience in these two slums, the research also looks at ways in which it is

possible to get slum dwellers better involved in the slum-upgrading process, in particular

through use of technology, such as geographical information systems (GIS) and mobile

phones. Technology has been used for years in developed countries to improve citizen

participation, but this research looks at how it can be adapted for use in developing countries.

Keywords:

GIS, mobile phones, public participation, slum upgrade, Nairobi, Kenya

ii

Ágrip

Eitt af mest aðkallandi viðfangsefnum mannkyns er aukning fólksfjölda í borgum. Borgir

heimsins stækka jafnt og þétt og á sama tíma stækka fátækrahverfi heims. Þessi hverfi munu

stækka meir og meir ef ekkert er gert til að stöðva þessa aukningu.

Hluti af Þúsaldarmarkmiðum Sameinuðu Þjóðanna (MDG) sem ákveðin voru árið 2000 er að

bæta aðstöðu 100 miljóna íbúa þessara hverfa fyrir árið 2020. Til þess að ná þessum

markmiðum þurfa ríkisstjórnir heims að taka þátt og setja í gang verkefni til þess að koma í

veg fyrir þessa aukningu og bæta lífskjör fólks í fátækrahverfum.

Árið 2001 ákvað ríkisstjórn Kenía og UN-HABITAT að leggja fram aðgerðaráætlun þar sem

lýst var leiðum til þess að bæta ástand fólks í fátækrahverfum Kenía. Aðgerðaráætlun til 15

ára, sem kallast KENSUP, var lögð fram en í henni er lögð áhersla á að bæta ástandið í

fátækrahverfunum með því að byggja ódýrt húsnæði, bæta grunnvirki, tryggja betur

umráðarétt á landi og auka atvinnutækifæri.

Í þessu rannsóknarverkefni er litið til Kibera, sem er stærsta fátækrahverfið í Kenía, en það er

hluti af KENSUP áætluninni. Einnig er litið til Mathare, næst-stærsta fátækrahverfisins í

Nairobí, en það er ekki hluti af áætluninni. Skoðað er hvernig tókst til með eldra

umbótaverkefni í Mathare og hvernig gengur með núverandi umbótaverkefni í Kibera.

Sérstaklega er skoðað hversu mikil þátttaka almennings hefur verið í þessum tveimur

verkefnum og hvaða áhrif þátttakan hafði, ef einhver.

Byggt á reynslu í þessum hverfum er einnig skoðað hvernig hægt er að fá íbúa til að taka

meiri þátt með aðstoð tækni eins og GIS og farsíma. Tækni hefur verið notuð í mörg ár í

þróuðum löndum til að auka þátttöku almennings í skipulagsmálum en í þessu tilviki er

skoðað hvernig nýta megi tækni í þróunarlöndum.

Lykilorð:

GIS, farsímar, þátttaka almennings, fátækrahverfi, Nairobi, Kenía

iii




Thesis submitted to the School of Science and Engineering

at Reykjavík University in partial fulfillment

of the requirements for the degree of

Master of Science

December 2011

Student:

___________________________________________


Supervisors:

___________________________________________

Ásdís Hlökk Theodórsdóttir

___________________________________________

Lars Peter Jensen

Examiner:

___________________________________________

Magnfríður Júlíusdóttir

iv

Acknowledgements

My sincere gratitude goes to my two supervisors, Ásdís Hlökk Theodórsdóttir and Lars Peter

Jensen, for their encouragement and assistance in this thesis and for allowing me to proceed

with a project like this one.

For the people of Kibera and Mathare who participated in this research and allowed me to tell

their stories and opinions, I have the highest respect and gratitude. They live in an

environment that very few of my readers will ever encounter, and the importance of making

their voice heard led me to pursue this research.

George Sigar Dima, a family friend and a community leader in Mathare, gets special thanks

for all his help, especially in arranging many of my field interviews. Without him, this

research would not have been mastered.

Last, but not least, I would like to thank my husband and my children for their endless

patience, encouragement and assistance.

v

Table of contents

1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1

1.1 Aim and objectives ...................................................................................................... 2

1.2 Research question ........................................................................................................ 2

1.3 Restrictions .................................................................................................................. 3

1.4 Rationale ...................................................................................................................... 3

1.5 Thesis structure ............................................................................................................ 4

2 Research area ...................................................................................................................... 5

2.1 Kenya ........................................................................................................................... 5

2.2 Nairobi ......................................................................................................................... 6

2.3 Mathare ........................................................................................................................ 7

2.4 Kibera .......................................................................................................................... 8

2.5 The technology landscape ........................................................................................... 9

3 Research methodology ..................................................................................................... 10

3.1 Literature review ........................................................................................................ 10

3.2 Field survey ............................................................................................................... 10

3.3 Strategy ...................................................................................................................... 13

3.4 Interviews .................................................................................................................. 13

3.5 Online gathering of information ................................................................................ 14

4 Public participation (Literature review) ........................................................................... 15

4.1 Evolution of urban planning towards public participation ........................................ 15

4.2 What is public participation? ..................................................................................... 15

4.3 Why public participation? ......................................................................................... 16

4.4 The Ladder of Citizen Participation .......................................................................... 16

4.5 Examples of participation .......................................................................................... 18

4.6 e-Participation ............................................................................................................ 19

5 GIS and ICT (Literature review) ...................................................................................... 21

5.1 GIS ............................................................................................................................. 21

5.2 Paper maps ................................................................................................................. 23

5.3 Satellite images .......................................................................................................... 24

5.4 Mapping the community ............................................................................................ 25

5.5 Public Participation GIS ............................................................................................ 25

vi

5.6 Mobile phones ........................................................................................................... 26

5.7 Reaching citizens via mobile phones ......................................................................... 28

6 Results .............................................................................................................................. 30

6.1 Case Study: Mathare 4A Housing Project 1992-2008 ............................................... 30

6.1.1 Overview of project ............................................................................................ 30

6.1.2 Community participation .................................................................................... 32

6.1.3 Use of technology ............................................................................................... 34

6.1.4 Mathare - beyond the “German project” ............................................................ 35

6.2 Case Study: Kibera – KENSUP 2005-2020 .............................................................. 36

6.2.1 Overview of project ............................................................................................ 36

6.2.2 Community participation .................................................................................... 37

6.2.3 Use of technology ............................................................................................... 39

6.2.4 Beyond KENSUP ............................................................................................... 39

7 Discussion ........................................................................................................................ 41

7.1 Issues affecting slum upgrade projects in Nairobi ..................................................... 41

7.1.1 Political issues .................................................................................................... 41

7.1.2 Lack of transparency .......................................................................................... 41

7.1.3 Lack of involvement ........................................................................................... 42

7.1.4 Lack of understanding ........................................................................................ 42

7.1.5 Lack of trust ....................................................................................................... 43

7.2 Improving community participation .......................................................................... 43

7.3 The role of technology ............................................................................................... 44

7.3.1 Existing solutions focused on improving lives of slum dwellers ....................... 45

7.3.2 The Role of Facebook and social media ............................................................ 46

7.3.3 Issues faced when using technology .................................................................. 47

7.3.4 Opportunities for further use of technology ....................................................... 50

8 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 51

9 Bibliography ..................................................................................................................... 53

Appendix A – List of informants ............................................................................................. 59

Appendix B – Survey questions ............................................................................................... 61

vii

Table of figures

Figure 1-1. Inside Mathare, the second-biggest slum in Nairobi, Kenya ................................... 4

Figure 2-1. Map of Africa, locating Kenya ................................................................................ 5

Figure 2-2. Map of Kenya, locating Nairobi .............................................................................. 6

Figure 2-3. Map of Nairobi, locating Mathare ........................................................................... 7

Figure 2-4. Map of Nairobi, locating Kibera ............................................................................. 8

Figure 2-5. Mobile penetration in Kenya ................................................................................... 9

Figure 3-1. Interviews conducted in Nairobi, Kenya ............................................................... 13

Figure 4-1. The Ladder of Citizen Participation ...................................................................... 17

Figure 4-2. e-Participation ladder ............................................................................................. 19

Figure 5-1. Matrix, developed for prospective land use on each coordinate ........................... 22

Figure 5-2. QR code for the URL of the University of Reykjavik main page ......................... 24

Figure 5-3. mPesa sales agents in Nairobi, Kenya ................................................................... 28

Figure 6-1. Looking over deteriorated rooftops of the "German project" in Mathare 4A ....... 31

Figure 6-2. Housing in Mathare 4A, before, during and after construction ............................. 32

Figure 6-3. Before and after satellite imagery of Mathare 4A ................................................. 34

Figure 6-4. Map of Mathare, showing water taps, churches, toilets, etc. ................................. 35

Figure 6-5. Houses in the decanting site in Langata ................................................................ 36

Figure 6-6. Front page of KENSUP Implementation Strategy ................................................ 38

Figure 6-7. Map of Kibera, showing clinics, churches, water taps, etc. .................................. 40

viii

List of abbreviations

GDP − Gross domestic product

GIS − Geographic information system

GPS − Global positioning system

ICT − Information communication technology

IGO − Inter-governmental organization

ITU − International Telecommunication Union

KENSUP − Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme

KFW − Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau

KSh − Kenyan shillings

MDG − Millennium Development Goals

MMS − Multimedia message service

NGO − Non-governmental organization

OSM − Open StreetMap

PPGIS − Public participation geographic information system

QR code − Quick response code

SEC − Settlement Executive Committee

SMS − Short message service (otherwise known as text message)

STK − SIM application toolkit

UN − United Nations

UNDP − United Nations Development Programme

Technology Enabled Citizen Participation in Nairobi Slum Upgrades

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1

1 Introduction

As the world’s population grows, more and more people move into the cities in search

of a better life, causing more poverty and creating bigger slums in cities. In the year

2001 over 900 million people lived in slums around the world. If nothing is done to

prevent the growth of the slums, the estimated number of slum dwellers will increase to

about two billion by the year 2030 (UN-HABITAT, 2003).

In the year 2000, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in collaboration

with 189 nations around the world created a number of goals they aimed to achieve by

2015 (UNDP, 2011). The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) focus on eight areas

of improvement: ending poverty and hunger, universal education, gender equality, child

health, maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS, environmental sustainability and global

partnerships. Millennium Development Goal 7, environmental sustainability, aims, as

one of its targets (7.D), to significantly improve the lives of at least 100 million slum

dwellers by 2020 (UNDP, 2011).

This thesis revolves around two slums in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi. As the city’s

population grows steadily every year, the slums grow bigger and will continue to do so

if nothing is done to prevent this growth.

What is a slum? The United Nations’ definition of slum is a “run-down area of a city

characterized by substandard housing and squalor and lacking in tenure security” (UN-

HABITAT, 2003). Other characteristics of a slum are the extreme density of the

neighborhood where low income people, most living under the poverty line, have settled

on a privately or government-owned land where there is limited access to clean water,

basic healthcare and electricity.

The term slum will be used in this thesis, as it is accepted by people living in the slums,

inter-governmental organizations (IGOs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

around the world.

Following a meeting between the President of Kenya and the Executive Director of UN-

HABITAT in 2001 the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme (KENSUP) was established.

The objective of the program is to improve the overall livelihoods of slum dwellers by

improving shelter, infrastructure services, land tenure and employment issues. This also

includes addressing the impact of HIV/AIDS in slum settlements (Republic of Kenya,

2004).

Part of a successful slum upgrading process is to provide the people with adequate and

affordable housing with access to affordable financing to improve their current shelter.

The upgrading process also includes improving physical infrastructure services, such as

building of roads, making footpaths, supplying street lighting and implementing a

sewage, water and drainage system. Other infrastructure includes health clinics, schools,


______________________________________________________________________

2

playgrounds and religious facilities. An important factor is security of tenure, which can

be provided by ensuring the rights of residency and holding (Republic of Kenya, 2004).

By enhancing the opportunities of income generation and employment creation with

more employment opportunities, investment opportunities and by establishing an

appropriate microfinance mechanism, the upgrading process can become more

successful.

Creating a partnership between the government and the community is an important part

of a successful slum upgrade. This gives the people a sense of belonging and of

knowing that they are creating a better community for themselves. By having a voice

and by participating in the slum upgrading process, the community will also get a sense

of ownership in the upgrade.

It is this community involvement that is the focus of this thesis. I will look at the current

level of involvement and look at how technology can be utilized to make the process

more effective.

1.1 Aim and objectives

The aim of this research is to identify ways in which it is possible to get people more

involved in the slum upgrading process in developing countries. This will be achieved

by analyzing the current level of participation and to find out if the use of GIS, mobile

phones or other technology can get people better involved in the slum upgrading

process.

In order to reach this aim the research will look into the following:

Identify the level and approaches of community participation in selected urban

slum upgrade projects in Nairobi, Kenya.

Identify the potential for mobile technology in improving community

participation in urban slum upgrade projects.

Identify availability of geo-spatial (GIS) data and its use in urban slum upgrades

in Nairobi, Kenya.

Identify how the local knowledge of the community can be gathered through the

help of GIS and mobile technology and utilized to improve the slum upgrade

projects.

1.2 Research question

Underlying this research is the question:

Can community participation in urban slum upgrade projects in Nairobi, Kenya be

improved through the use of technology?


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3

After analyzing the current level of and approaches to community participation in the

urban slum upgrade in Nairobi, Kenya, the study will investigate if and how

community-driven geo-spatial information (GIS) can be used to improve the level of

community participation in the urban slum upgrade process, supported by the explosion

in ownership of mobile phones.

1.3 Restrictions

The urban slum upgrades in the Kibera and Mathare slums of Nairobi, Kenya, will be

used as case studies, due to the researcher’s familiarity with the area. The Kenya Slum

Upgrading Programme presents different goals, such as improving the livelihoods of

those living and working within the slums, providing security of tenure and housing

improvement, etc.

The reason the two slums have been chosen is also due to the fact that Kibera is part of

the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme and Mathare is not. Many organizations and the

government have focused on Kibera, starting different projects and bringing together

groups of people as the voices of the people within the slum. Mathare, however, has not

been part of this particular upgrading process; therefore, the two slums can also be

compared, with perhaps a visible success in Kibera.

Although technology and geo-spatial information can be utilized for improving

livelihoods in other ways, this thesis will only focus on its use in relation to community

participation in the upgrading process.

1.4 Rationale

The first time I stepped into a slum in 2008, I was shocked and terrified to see how

people were living below any humane standard (see Figure 1-1). Children were playing

in open sewage with bloated bellies and runny noses. The small, one bedroom shacks

they lived in had muddy floors with no access to bathrooms, showers or clean drinking

water. A large number of people I met were ill, either with malaria, worms or even

HIV/AIDS.

Living in the world I do today, I find it unacceptable for people to live this way, having

to drink polluted water, not being able to feed their children, being unable to attend

school, sleeping on muddy ground and hoping not to be robbed or even raped.

The people living in slums often go unnoticed and live in a society that does not

function or by definition even exist. For decades, the urban plans for Nairobi depicted

the slums as green forest areas, thereby ignoring the issues at hand.

I understand that not everyone can be saved and handing out money is not going to

benefit anyone in the long run. I do however help educate some children, support their

medical costs and buy their food, but as the old Lao Tzu saying goes:

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.

Teach a man how to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”


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4

Involving the people and giving them hope and a sense of ownership creates a more

fulfilling solution to everyone. Creating a community that cares about their

surroundings is essential to making these places better places to live.

Figure 1-1. Inside Mathare, the second-biggest slum in Nairobi, Kenya

1.5 Thesis structure

The thesis is split into the following chapters:

The second chapter describes the research area and what current problems the

research area is facing. Mathare and Kibera, two of the biggest slums in Nairobi,

Kenya are also described in more detail.

The third chapter describes the research methodology used for this thesis. The

methodology has been split into two major parts, a literature review and field

research. This chapter provides a detailed overview of how each part was

conducted.

The fourth chapter describes in short the evolution of urban planning towards

public participation, what public participation is and why it is needed. “The

Ladder of Citizen Participation” by Sherry Arnstein is discussed, and examples

of participation, including e-participation, are provided.

The fifth chapter describes the use of GIS, paper mapping and public

participation GIS (PPGIS). It also describes how mobile phones can be utilized

in participation.

The sixth chapter goes through the results of the research. This chapter is split

into two case studies. The first one looks at a slum upgrade project in Mathare,

which lasted from 1992-2008. The second one looks at a similar project in

Kibera that started in 2005. For both projects, the level of community

involvement in the upgrading projects is described.

The seventh chapter discusses the results of the research and identifies

opportunities for further community participation in slums through the use of

technology, how the community could be better involved and what issues the

upgrading projects in Mathare and Kibera were affected by. This chapter also

discusses the research question and the aim and objective set forward in the

beginning of the research.

The eighth chapter provides a conclusion to the research and identifies further

areas for research.


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5

2 Research area

This chapter contains a description of the research area and also describes the current

problems that the area is facing. As mentioned earlier, a special focus is on two urban

slums, Mathare and Kibera, which are both in the capital of Kenya, Nairobi. These two

slums were chosen for this research because of the writer’s familiarity with them and

because of their differences.

2.1 Kenya

Kenya is located in Southeast Africa, bound to the north by Ethiopia, with Somalia to

the northeast and Tanzania to the south. On the western side is Uganda, and on the

eastern side the Indian Ocean covers a 480 km beach (see Figure 2-1). Kenya has an

estimated population of about 40 million people (Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011).

Around 40% of the Kenyan population lives in cities, such as Nairobi, Mombasa and

Eldoret. This is where 65% of the gross domestic product (GDP) is generated (UN-

HABITAT, 2005).

Figure 2-1. Map of Africa, locating Kenya

Source: Map created with (ESRI, 2011)


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6

Poverty has been growing rapidly in Kenya. In only five years (1992-1997) poverty

increased from 44.8% to 52.3% (UN-HABITAT, 2005). This has created inequalities,

economic stagnation and caused people to move to the urban centers in hope of a better

life. Unfortunately this is not the case for most, since there are no employment

opportunities or accommodation available. Alongside poverty and the creation of slums,

Kenya faces a higher rate of crime, violence against women and child mortality (UN-

HABITAT, 2005).

To respond to Kenya’s growing urban poor population, the government of Kenya put

together and published the Kenya Slum Upgrading Programme (KENSUP) in 2005. The

aim of the program is to improve the livelihoods of at least 5.3 million urban slum

dwellers during a 16-year period by improving their living conditions, infrastructure

services, land tenure and employment issues. This would be done with transparency and

accountability, democratization and empowerment of the people while securing their

current tenure (Republic of Kenya, 2004).

2.2 Nairobi

Nairobi is Kenya’s capital, a westernized city with skyscrapers, modern shopping

centers and rich suburbs. The city is in the south central part of the country and is

populated by just over three million people (see Figure 2-2). It is situated in the

highlands at an elevation of about 1680 m. Behind the façade of this modern city, out of

the sight of the tourist, around 60% of the capital’s population has settled in over 100

slums and squatter settlements within the city (UN-HABITAT, 2003). Some of the

largest slums in the city are Kibera, Mathare and Korogocho.

Figure 2-2. Map of Kenya, locating Nairobi



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7

The rural-urban migration in Kenya has led to massive growth in the cities, such as

Nairobi. According to Kenya Urban Sector Profile study from UN-HABITAT, the

annual urban population growth in Kenya is 4.4%, making it the most rapid urbanizing

country in the region (UN-HABITAT, 2005). Although Nairobi is a young city, it has

become the biggest city in Kenya and one of the biggest cities in Africa.

Nairobi suffers many poverty-related issues, such as a high rate of domestic violence,

frequent burglaries, skewed age distribution (50% of Nairobi’s population is under the

age of 15), a high under-five mortality rate and an HIV/AIDS pandemic that has caused

a loss of productive people (UN-HABITAT, 2006).

2.3 Mathare

Mathare is the second biggest slum in Nairobi, Kenya (see Figure 2-3). It is estimated

that between 350,000 – 500,000 people live in Mathare, in an area that is 73.7 hectares

in size (Pamoja Trust, 2009; Bright Hope, 2011). Mathare started growing around 1963

when a group of independence fighters settled on land owned by the government

(Amnesty International, 2009). Mathare is split into different villages, and part of the

land is owned by the government but is mostly privately owned.

Figure 2-3. Map of Nairobi, locating Mathare


Although Mathare is a large slum, the area is not only made up of shanties. Health

clinics, churches, schools and shops can be found in between, as different NGOs and

other organizations have for a long time focused on trying to improve the lives of the

slum’s dwellers.

Mathare


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8

The housing in Mathare is poor, where most of the people live on the muddy ground in

shanties made of tin walls and tin roofs (or made out of whatever material is available).

Most families live in a one-bedroom shack with no electricity and no access to clean

water. Sewage runs above ground between the houses since access to latrines is rare.

This has caused a problem where people are throwing their bagged waste out during the

night (better known as flying toilets).

Abuse of alcohol and other substances, such as glue, is common in the area, and many

children can be seen lying in the streets high on any substance they can get a hold of.

Access to public transportation is poor since there are not many roads in place. This also

means that ambulances, fire trucks and police have limited access to the neighborhood.

2.4 Kibera

Kibera is one of the larger slums in Africa and the biggest slum in Nairobi (Republic of

Kenya, 2004). It started growing after a group of Nubian soldiers from Sudan, who had

participated in the First World War for the British military, settled in the Kibera woods

(see Figure 2-4). The number of people living in Kibera is not well known. The United

Nations (UN) estimates the population to be around 700,000, but KENSUP estimates

the population to be around 500,000 people living on 225 hectares (Republic of Kenya,

2004; UN-HABITAT, 2011).

Figure 2-4. Map of Nairobi, locating Kibera


The housing in Kibera is similar to Mathare where families live in one bedroom with no

electricity and no access to clean water. Sewage runs above ground between the houses

since access to latrines is rare. Abuse of alcohol and other substances, such as glue, is

Kibera


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9

also common in the area (Pamoja Trust, 2009). Due to poverty, the under-five mortality

rate in Kibera is 18.7% compared to less than 1.5% in the high-income areas in Nairobi

(World Health Organization, 2008). Although the housing is poor, most residents

engage in small business, selling food and other basic commodities on the street

corners.

Different from Mathare, Kibera has gotten a lot of attention from the international

community in the previous years. Ever since the government of Kenya decided to

include Kibera in its slum upgrade program, many organizations have moved in, in the

hope of improving conditions. Various organizations focus on building schools and

medical clinics or to operate them, creating jobs for women and issuing microloans,

mapping the community and leading youth activities.

2.5 The technology landscape

At the end of 2010, around 25 million mobile phone subscribers were registered in

Kenya. Mobile penetration, a term used to define the number of active subscribers

within the population, is over 63% and continues to grow (see Figure 2-5). The last

quarter of 2010 showed an amazing 12% growth in subscribers with around three

million new subscribers joining the four mobile phone operators (Communication

Commission of Kenya, 2010). There are no estimates available for mobile-phone

ownership inside the slums, but observations and feedback from interviews point

towards high ownership.

Figure 2-5. Mobile penetration in Kenya

Source: Graph based on (Communication Commission of Kenya, 2010)

In 2009, the first submarine fiber cable connected East Africa, including Kenya, to the

rest of the world. Until then all internet traffic was over satellite and therefore very

slow. The arrival of fiber has made a big difference in internet availability and speeds,

not only in Nairobi, but also in more remote areas through mobile internet (3G).

The high growth of mobile usage and increased availability of bandwidth has also

fueled a growth in technology-based entrepreneurship. Very successful innovative

solutions, such as Ushahidi, which is described in further detail in chapter 7.3.1, have

led to other entrepreneurs following in their footsteps. The founders of Ushahidi have

used their success to create iHub Kenya, an innovation facility that provides local

technology entrepreneurs with an environment to create more solutions based on the

needs and experiences of the local market.

49,7 51,0 51,2

55,963,2

20,0

30,0

40,0

50,0

60,0

70,0

Dec-09 Mar-10 Jun-10 Sep-10 Dec-10

Mobile Penetration (%)


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10

3 Research methodology

This chapter describes the methodology used for this thesis. It can be split into two

major parts, a literature review and field research. This chapter provides a detailed

overview of how each part was conducted.

3.1 Literature review

To gain a better understanding of the theoretical part of the slum upgrading and

participatory process, an extensive literature review was conducted that looked at the

following areas:

Principles in public participation

Principles of slum upgrades

Principles of geo-spatial information systems

Principles of mobile systems

To gain a better understanding of the current state of affairs in public participation and

the use of technology, an extensive literature review was conducted that looked at the

following areas:

Current level of participation in two of the slums in Kenya, Mathare and Kibera

Current use of technology in the public participation process, such as GIS,

mobile phones, smartphones, etc.

The results of the literature review on participation are presented in chapter 4 - Public

participation (Literature review) while the results of the technology-related literature

review are summarized in chapter 5 - GIS and ICT (Literature review).

3.2 Field survey

The field survey consisted of the following:

Preparing a field survey

Field surveys done in the Mathare and Kibera slums of Nairobi

Analysis of the field survey

For the field survey part, six different groups were targeted with different sets of

questions. The different groups were identified in order to get a more thorough

understanding of the research topic. These groups are:

Geo-spatial organizations

Find out what type of mapping technologies are currently being used in slums

and how they are being applied towards slum upgrades and community

participation, if at all. Look at whether there are opportunities for improved use

of mapping technologies within slum upgrade programs.


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11

Target organizations Responded

ESRI

Google Maps √

Bing Maps √

Open StreetMap √

Map Kibera √

Mobile operators and manufacturers

Find out how mobile-phone usage in slums compares to other urban areas,

especially looking at usage within Kibera and Mathare. Look at whether there

are examples of mobile technologies being used for community involvement.

Identify potential opportunities for further use of mobile technologies in the

slum upgrade programs.


Safaricom

AirTel √

Nokia Research √

Microsoft Research √

Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

Find out how non-governmental organizations are involved in the slum upgrade

process and identify the role they play in community involvement. Look at

whether their voice is being heard in the upgrading process and if they get any

say in the development of the surroundings they work in.


Amnesty International

ABC Children's Aid International √

iHub √

LEPTA Community √

Plan International √

Project Chance Africa Inc. √

Save the Children √

The Turning Point Trust √

Kibera Girls' Soccer Academy √

Kibera UK √


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12

Governmental and inter-governmental organizations

The key players in the slum upgrading process are the government of Kenya

and UN-HABITAT. The purpose of the field survey towards these

organizations is to identify what the actual state of the upgrade process is and

how much community participation and physical mapping has occurred. In

particular, the survey will look at how the information gathered is being utilized

to influence the upgrade process.


Government of Kenya - Ministry of

Land and Housing - KENSUP √

UN-HABITAT

Local community leaders

According to the KENSUP strategy, the main form of community participation

is through community leaders. In the field survey community leaders in

Mathare and Kibera will be interviewed to determine how large a role they have

played and how their input has been included in the upgrading process.

Attempts will be made to identify at which level in the “ladder of participation”

(Arnstein, 1969) their involvement currently is.

Target community leaders Responded

George Sigar Dima (Mathare) √

Javin Ochieng (Mathare) √

Wiltah Nyabate (Kibera) √

Douglas Namale (Kibera) √

Citizen focus groups

To gain insight into the citizen’s view of the participation process, a focus

group from each community was identified. The focus group included

representatives from citizens involved in the upgrade programs. The aim was to

have an equal representation of gender and to include both the younger and

older generations. When interviewed, the focus groups were divided by gender

and interviewed separately.

Target groups: Ten citizens from Mathare, ten citizens from Kibera

When trying to get a group of ten citizens who are participating in the Kibera

upgrade project for a focus group, some citizens were reluctant to participate.

One community leader from Kibera who was interviewed explained that this

was due to restrictions from the government of Kenya (W. Ombese, personal

communication, November 25, 2011). A group of 11 citizens (four women,

seven men) from the Mathare slum upgrade was selected by community leaders

based on the requirements defined above.


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13

Target groups located in Kenya were visited during the field trip and interviews

conducted. For those located outside of Kenya, the interviews were conducted via

Skype. The interviews were conducted through informal conversations with

representatives of the target organizations. The informal conversations were guided

through a base set of questions developed for each group. These can be found in

Appendix B.

The interviews were recorded and summarized and the main findings are described in

chapter 6 - Results.

3.3 Strategy

Interviews were conducted both before and during a research trip to Nairobi, Kenya in

November 2011. A list of questions was prepared for each target group (see appendix –

B).

The aims were set high for the research trip in order to try and get a better result, as

things tend to work slowly in Nairobi, and it can be hard to reach out and get a response

from many of the organizations. By doing this, the hope was to still get a good number

of participants in each group.

A survey was also put online for the NGOs, IGOs, geo-spatial organizations and mobile

operators/manufacturers that could not be visited during the research trip. This was also

done in the hope of getting more organizations involved and to get more information

from the local players.

3.4 Interviews

A few interviews were conducted in early November, before the research trip. Experts

in geo-spatial information and mobile technology were interviewed to gain a better

knowledge of the work that is being done in developing countries around the world.

Questions related to technology and its use in developing countries were brought up to

better understand how technology might be utilized as part of citizen participation.

Figure 3-1. Interviews conducted in Nairobi, Kenya


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14

A number of interviews were conducted in Nairobi in late November with experts in

GIS and mobile technology, with local NGOs as well as community leaders and citizens

of the slums (see Figure 3-1.). Through these interviews, the level of participation and

the use of technology were explored.

The community leaders were all very willing to speak, most likely since most of them

are activists in the community and therefore willing to express their views. The focus

group was interviewed with the help of a translator to enable the group to more easily

express themselves in their own language. Before any of the interviews started, a short

overview of the research and its objectives was given. It was emphasized that the

research might not influence their situation, but by expressing their views, their opinion

would be made public.

3.5 Online gathering of information

For those who could not be reached via Skype or by direct interviews, an online tool

(SurveyMonkey) was used to ask the same set of questions as if the organization had

been interviewed in person. Local NGOs were more willing to share information,

mainly due to their frustration with the slum upgrading program in Nairobi, Kenya. The

results from SurveyMonkey were then combined with those from the direct interviews

completed during the field trip.

A small experimental Facebook project was created where questions were targeted

towards the citizens of Mathare and Kibera. As Facebook provides a simple

questionnaire that can be targeted to a certain area (i.e., only people living in and having

their names registered in Mathare or Kibera on Facebook). This experiment did not

provide any valuable insight as the number of responses was too low.


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15

4 Public participation (Literature review)

In this chapter, the citizen/public participation theory is described. I will look at why we

need to involve the people in decision making and how it can be done in different ways.

The main theory applied is the “ladder of citizen participation” by Sherry Arnstein

(Arnstein, 1969), which is used as a comparing tool in this research project.

4.1 Evolution of urban planning towards public participation

For large part of the 20th century, urban planning was a field dominated by

technological expert engineers. The foundational work of Ebenezer Howard and

Fredrick Law Olmsted “laid the philosophical groundwork for large-scale urban

planning efforts” (Raford, 2011) that focused on rational planning based on scientific

principles and experiments.

It was not until the 1970s that these large-scale urban models started to be criticized

because of their dysfunctions. One of the critics was Douglas B. Lee Jr., who identified

seven core issues with the large-scale urban planning (Lee Jr., 1973). One of these was

the fact that the planning was often based on assumptions about system behavior that

was not based on the real-world experiences of people living in the area. Around the

same time, Garry D. Brewer pointed out the influence politicians and organizations can

have on the planning process, often enabling political misuse (Brewer, 1973).

At the same time, changes in society in general called for more focus on social issues as

part of the planning process. Initially the focus was on learning about the social

dynamics of the environment and community that was being planned. The goal was then

to take this “exercise in discovery” (Healey, 1997) and use that learning to get a better

insight into the needs of the community.

It was Paul Davidoff who was one of the first to argue that it was impossible for the

planner to have an overview of the entire needs of the citizens and that a method for

greater diversity of opinions to be sought (Davidoff, 1965). This gave birth to a

“communicative approach” (Forester, 1989) that “attempts to make planners aware of

the value of discussion, debate and information sharing…” through a culture of

“…greater community collaboration, consensus building, debate and discussion”

(Raford, 2011).

4.2 What is public participation?

Public participation is a process in which people can influence projects and decision

making on issues that are relevant to their lives and the environment they live in. By

providing the public with necessary information and allowing their voices to be heard,

the quality of plans is expected to improve with the citizen’s ideas, opinions and

knowledge. It also gives the power holder a chance to assist them in understanding the

problem, the alternatives and possible opportunities.


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16

A wide range of participatory methods has been created in different countries

throughout the world with new ways of interacting. People can meet face to face and

discuss ideas and express their opinions. There are also online participation methods

where the information might just go in one direction, feeding the public with

information without allowing them to influence the project. Some of these online

participation projects can also be a two-way flow between the citizens and the power

holder, making sure that different opinions are heard, whether it be concerns or ideas. In

every project, a decision has to be made on what kind of process should be used and at

what level the citizen participation should be.

The level of participation between projects can vary. There is not necessarily an agreed

upon, appropriate level. The idea that “more participation is better” does not always

hold true because the more citizens get involved, the more time is required on both

sides. This can especially be the case in large-scale projects in low-income communities

where it may simply not be practical or feasible for the community to spend the time

required to achieve the highest levels of participation (Imparato & Ruster, 2003).

4.3 Why public participation?

Involving the community or citizens in the public participation process can build the

trust that the public has in the responsible power holders. Projects are expected to be

transparent when more people are involved, all of whom have a better understanding of

the process.

The expected benefits of increased participation are that it might improve the project

design and help provide a solution that people can afford and are willing to pay for. It is

also expected to provide relevant local knowledge and allow it to be taken into account

in the slum upgrading process. By giving citizens a voice and allowing them to

participate, they are more likely to feel they have gained ownership of the project and at

the same time enhance their sense of responsibility (Imparato & Ruster, 2003).

4.4 The Ladder of Citizen Participation

The “ladder of citizen participation” was first described in an article by Sherry R.

Arnstein (Arnstein, 1969). The article provides an overview of the different ways the

public can be involved in decision making. It describes eight levels of participation,

which are divided into three main categories. Even though it was first published over 40

years ago, planners, architects, politicians, power holders and many others still

acknowledge these different levels of participation. These levels can be represented as a

ladder, as shown in Figure 4-1.

Arnstein categorizes the first two levels in her ladder of citizen participation as non-

participation, this is where the public is not directly involved and may be manipulated

into thinking they are part of decision making, where the power holders have created a

phony form of participation, perhaps around a decision already made. At the first level

there is manipulation where people are “educated” and may be advised to sign

proposals they believe to be in their interest.


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17

Figure 4-1. The Ladder of Citizen Participation

Source: Picture based on (Arnstein, 1969)

The second level of the participation, which Arnstein calls therapy, involves the power

holders “curing” the people. The power holders promise to assist the citizens and have

them engage in different activities where their opinions may be “cured”, and in the end

accepted by the citizens.

Arnstein refers to the third, fourth and fifth levels as tokenism. This is where the citizens

become involved but only to certain extent. The informing level is where the citizens are

informed of what is happening. This is a one-way information process, where people

receive the information in newspapers, in the media, online or by other means.

Consultation is the fourth step, in which citizens’ opinions can start to affect the power

holder’s opinion. This is a common form of citizen participation utilized in urban

planning. If consultation and information is taken into account as part of the planning

process, this can be effective. However, if the consultation and information is not taken

into consideration at the end of the day, this step will be of limited value and could

therefore fall back into the non-participating level.

The fifth level in Arnstein’s ladder is where a citizens’ opinion will start influencing the

power holder’s decision. Arnstein calls this level in the ladder placation. At this level,

citizens may be hand-picked to sit on a governing board that makes decisions on the

planning process. According to Arnstein, this process is more likely to work if the board

8

7

6

5

4

3

2

1

Citizen Control

Delegated Power

Partnership

Placation

Consultation

Informing

Therapy

Manipulation

Citizen Power

Tokenism

Nonparticipation


______________________________________________________________________

18

members are equally split (citizens and power holders), so the citizens cannot be

outvoted in the process.

The last category in the participation ladder is what Arnstein calls citizen power. This is

where the citizens get to influence the decision making directly. At the sixth level the

power holders and citizens create a partnership. Arnstein considers partnership

relatively high on her ladder as she believes this can keep both citizens and power

holders content.

The seventh level is what Arnstein calls delegated power. At this level the citizens can

start taking control, and the power holders need to start negotiating with the citizens.

Compared to the example given for placation (the fifth level), the majority of the board

members would be the citizens. This would mean that the power holders would need to

negotiate decisions with the board members.

The final level is what Arnstein calls citizen control. The words describe this level,

since it gives the citizens the power to decide. This can be achieved through

referendums, but since those are often costly and difficult to arrange it would most

likely slow down the process substantially. They are therefore often only utilized for

larger decisions. In many cases, local authorities do not, however, give their citizens full

control in such elections, but treat the results instead only as advisory for the final

decision made by the city council or other such decision making bodies.

4.5 Examples of participation

A participation process is not a standard process. When a process for participation is

decided upon, a decision has to be made on what kind of process should be used and at

what level the citizen participation should be. Different approaches can be used, such as

workshops, open houses, community meetings, surveys and PPGIS, which can all be

acceptable and deliver valuable results if done in the right manner.

According to KENSUP, one of the core concepts was to involve the slum dwellers in

the upgrade process. A set of residents was chosen to participate to represent the slum

dwellers. This might correspond to what Arnstein calls a consultation level of

participation. However, a study done by Amnesty International reveals that the residents

feared that this would only be a one-way dialog. They feared that there would be little

consultation and that issues important to them, such as the affordability and suitability

of the new public housing, would not be put on the agenda. With reference to Arnstein’s

ladder, this could be identified as non-participation, where the community has only been

informed of plans and are made to feel that their voices are being heard, thinking they

are a part of a decision that may already have been made by the government (Amnesty

International, 2009).

Map Kibera has run a project in the slums of Kibera in which the residents of the slum

participate and create maps of their community. By allowing the residents to map their

own surroundings and gather information about the community, the citizens have gained

some control of the environment they live in. A partnership between the citizens and


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19

Map Kibera has been made, and the residents are gaining a physical map with vital

information that they can share with the government and the world.

From New Delhi in India we can find similar examples of citizens gaining real citizen

power through technology. There, Public Participation GIS (PPGIS) was used by the

community to map their area. The residents, armed with maps, then submitted

applications to the Delhi State government requesting service improvements. After

mapping their community, they had realized that they had the right to demand more

water taps for their community, as water standards were not being achieved. Knowing

that 135 households were sharing the same water tap gave them the knowledge and

power to negotiate for more taps to be connected (Hoyt, Khosla, & Canepa, 2005).

4.6 e-Participation

In the paper Participation and Geographical Information: a position paper, Carver

discusses a new ladder (see Figure 4-2) of participation proposed by (Smyth, 2001),

based on Arnstein’s ladder, that looks at how, through the internet, it is possible to

increase the number of people participating (Carver, 2001).

Figure 4-2. e-Participation ladder

Source: Picture based on (Smyth, 2001)

The traditional methods of community participation, such as attending meetings, often

held in churches, schools or other community buildings during the evening or when

people are attending work often do not represent the opinions of the broad community

because many cannot attend meetings during the scheduled time. These meetings may

be dominated by a minority of the vocal citizens. It can also often be difficult for the

average person to understand what is going on (Carver, 2001).

8

7

6

5

4

ONLINE DECISION SUPPORT SYSTEMS

ONLINE OPINION SURVEYS

ONLINE DISCUSSION

COMMUNICATION BARRIER

ONLINE SERVICE DELIVERY

On

e-w

ay

Two

-wa

y

Incr

ea

sing

par

tici

pat

ion

Leve

l of c

om

mu

nica

tion

e-PARTICIPATION


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20

In developed countries, online participation has opened up opportunities for more

people to participate and for them to get a better understanding of the whole project. To

enable online participation, or e-Participation as it has become known as, citizens only

need some form of internet access to express their opinion and to gather information

(Carver, 2001).

The e-Participation ladder defined by Smyth and described by Carver reflects an online

application of Arnstein’s ladder of citizen participation (as described in chapter 4.3).

The first step of the e-Participation ladder, which corresponds to Arnstein’s levels of

non-participation, represents one-way communication, such as using a basic website.

Through a website, citizens can be given access to urban planning information but have

limited ability to influence it.

The second step of the ladder, which corresponds to Arnstein’s levels of tokenism,

allows citizens to have a discussion around urban planning, but there is no guarantee

that any of that discussion will be taken into account when decisions are being made.

The third step of the ladder maps to Arnstein’s consultation level. Citizens are asked for

their input through online surveys without the ability to control what is being surveyed

or how the results of the survey are being utilized.

The final step in the ladder maps to Arnstein’s citizen power level, where, through an

online decision support system, the citizens are given the final say in making decisions.

Carver also points out that for many organizations the ability to move to two-way

communication is difficult because of a communication barrier. The first step is easy

because all it takes is displaying the information online, while the other three two-way

communication levels all require that information is processed and analyzed. They also

require more sophisticated technology solutions to implement the two-way

communication mechanism.

Little research has been done on online participation in urban planning in developing

countries and the applicability of technology to enable citizen participation in those

countries. New research is, however, underway that focuses on the use of technology to

enable better governance (Ford, 2011).


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21

5 GIS and ICT (Literature review)

This chapter describes Geographical Information Systems (GIS) and how they can be

used in the planning process. This chapter also discusses how the necessary information

can be contained with simple but effective technology. Other information

communication technology (ICT), such as the use of mobile phones, is also discussed in

this chapter.

5.1 GIS

GIS is used frequently by marketing researchers, engineers, retail-site analysts and

environmental and urban planners. A Scottish landscape architect, Ian McHarg,

described in his book Design with Nature (1967) how maps could be used as a tool in

urban and environmental planning by using transparent slides with different features

from nature, such as geology, hydrology, wildlife, climate, landmarks, historical use of

the land, zoning, etc. By overlaying transparent slides with these different features he

then showed how maps could be used to determine possible land use. This land use

could be divided into urban, suburbs, industry, mining, recreation, agriculture and more.

This could also be done by using a matrix he then created (see Figure 5-1). With this

matrix all prospective land use, for example, in an area that had been shown to have a

high potential for forestry would also be compatible with recreation, including wildlife

management. There might also be advantages to or opportunities for agriculture.

Another example would be quarrying sand and gravel having full compatibility with

freshwater-oriented recreation and incompatibility with water management and

agriculture (McHarg, 1969).

McHarg’s ideas are also shown to have applicability in other fields, such as mapping

cities’ health and pathology, pollution, ethnicity, economic factors, etc. Williamson and

McHarg showed the relationship between density, pollution and health risks by creating

maps of a city in the same way McHarg had done with nature (McHarg, 1969).

The different layers showing physical disease (such as tuberculosis, heart disease and

diabetes), social disease (such as infant mortality, rape, robbery and drug addiction),

mental disease, pollution, ethnicity and economic factors are all factors that are

important in the slum upgrading process and the urban planning process because they

show the areas that are in the most need of assistance.


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22

Figure 5-1. Matrix, developed for prospective land use on each coordinate

Source: Picture based on (McHarg, 1969)

Today’s Geographical Information Systems are used to create maps with layers of

different characteristics using software, such as ArcGIS, to produce maps in digital

format. These maps create a surface of the earth, producing maps or virtual 3D models.

It can measure quantities (such as the number of doctors per square kilometer),

population density (such as people per square kilometer) and visualize the outcome to

the user (GIS, 2011). To locate the map, the software uses Global Positioning System

(GPS) coordinates to find points in the field.

GIS consists of four components: data input, data storage and retrieval, data analysis

and data reporting. The user starts out by collecting a variety of information. This could

be house numbers, number of children living in each house, description of type of

housing etc. This could also be uploading of digital or printed maps into the GIS. The

data is then stored in the GIS where it can be retrieved to edit or update. This

information can then be used to analyze different layers or themes of data already stored

in the system. Finally a report can be produced in the form of a graphic map, with

different themes, making it visual for those relying on maps (Encyclopædia Britannica,

2011; Canepa, 1999).

Until few years ago, GIS was a complex tool only used by trained experts. GIS software

was expensive and required substantial training. In recent years, the proliferation of

internet access and broadband connections has resulted in maps and satellite imagery

becoming more available to the public. Companies such as ESRI, Google and Microsoft

UrbanSuburban ResidentialIndustrialInstitutional

Shaft mined coal

Active opencast coal

Abandoned coal spoil

Stone and limestone

Sand and gavel

Vacation SettlementRow crops

Arable

Livestock

Even-stand softwood

Uneven-stand softwood

Hardwood

Saltwater oriented

Freshwater oriented

Wilderness

General recreation

Cultural recreation

Driving for pleasure

Reservoir

Watershed management

Incompatible Incompatible BadLow copatibility Low copatibility PoorMedium compatibility Medium compatibility FairFull compatibility Full compatibility Good

Stream sed

imen

tation

Floo

d an

d d

rou

ght co

ntro

l

Soil Ero

sion

Water su

pp

ly dep

end

ability

Fog su

sceptib

ility

Temp

erature exrem

es

Urb

an

Water p

ollu

tion

Gravels

Sand

Loam

s

Silts

Aq

uifer rech

arge areas0-5

%

15

-25

%

Over 2

5%

Veh

icular accessib

ilityGen

eral recreation

Cu

ltural recreatio

n

Drivin

g for p

leasure

Reservo

ir

Watersh

ed m

anagem

ent

Un

even-stan

d so

ftwo

od

Hard

wo

od

Saltwater o

riented

Freshw

ater orien

ted

Wild

erness

Vacatin

settlemen

ts

Ro

w cro

ps

Arab

le

Livestock

Even-stan

d so

ftwo

od

Natural DeterminantsAtibility of land uses Concequences

Clim

ate

Soils

Slop

e

Water m

anagem

ent

Recreatio

n

Forestry

Agricu

lture

Urb

an

Sub

urb

an resid

ential

Ind

ustrial

Institu

ion

al

Shaft-m

ined

coal

Active o

pen

cast coal

Water management

Qu

arrying

Min

ing

Mining

Quarrying

Agriculture

Forestry

Recreation

Ab

and

on

ed co

al spo

il

Ston

e and

limesto

ne

Sand

and

gravel


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23

offer those with internet access the ability to create maps with different layers, print out

these maps and visualize selected information on top of them. This has brought GIS to

the average computer user and resulted in even more geo-spatial data being shared

(Murray, 2008).

5.2 Paper maps

While GIS software is an effective way of collecting information, the use of paper maps

can also be an effective and cheap way to gather local information. Training local

residents to read maps can help to utilize community knowledge of their surroundings.

A team from UC Berkeley School of Information tried this by handing out paper maps

to high school students in a low-income neighborhood in Richmond, California. They

found that the paper maps allowed the locals to be better involved in planning decisions.

The local community is often better informed, compared to incoming professionals,

about high-crime areas and where the community is in need of improvement, etc. (Wart,

Tsai, & Parikh, 2010).

This type of data collection has also been used by the team working on the Map Kibera

project where paper maps have been printed and taped to the wall during community

meetings. Tracing-paper covers the map and a writer is chosen to document the

information from the residents. According to the team, the quality of these meetings has

been amazing. Since this type of data collection is often done by volunteers, it becomes

important that it is creative and fun to keep the volunteers enthusiastic (Primoz, 2011

A).

Although the use of paper maps can be a cheap and effective way of gathering

information, it has to be carefully handled and can lack quality control. The maps are

sometimes cluttered and non-readable (Canepa, 1999). It is important to make sure the

maps are correctly scaled and have a north arrow in place. Sometimes what the residents

report on a paper map needs to be interpreted before it is put into the GIS system, as it

can have underlying information that was not caught by the surveyor (Wart, Tsai, &

Parikh, 2010).

Walking papers are also a new way of making mapping easier and affordable. By

printing out maps in OpenStreetMap (OSM), which is a free and editable map of the

world, anyone can draw and trace on the map and upload the data back into OSM

making it visible to the world (Migurski, 2009). The map is recognized by the Quick

Response code (QR code) on the map, a now-popular coding system that can also be

read by smartphones (see Figure 5-2). This is a way for an amateur to detail a

neighborhood by marking in useful data such as:

Green areas

Street lights

Shops

Clinics

Schools


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24

Even further housing details can be documented, such as:

Access to electricity

Access to water

Access to restrooms

Shack ID

Number of occupants

This is something that is impossible to map without a site visit. For an amateur or a

resident of a slum, these maps are also a visual tool that can help the community

achieve goals that everyone can benefit from. After scanning the information back into

the OSM these different attributes can be mapped and shared online (Migurski, 2009).

Source: (KAYWA, 2011)

5.3 Satellite images

The use of high-resolution satellite images, such as those available through Google

Earth, Bing and QuickBird can easily be used to help map a slum and give a rough

estimation of the number of residents living in the area (Nolte, Adams, Wenzel, &

Svelka, 2010; Kranz, et al., 2010; Liu & Clarke, 2002). The resolution of satellite

imagery can vary depending on the altitude of the satellite and is sometimes

supplemented with aerial photography, especially where cloud coverage is a problem

(Martinuzzi, Gould, & González, 2005).

Google has a site called Map Maker to help improve the quality and quantity of geo-

spatial information through mapping. As a free tool, the Google Map Maker offers those

with the knowledge of an area the opportunity to share their information, making more

and more information available on the web. By going into the field with a handheld

GPS locating schools, clinics, restrooms and other features, it is simple to upload the

data onto Google Earth for further public use as the Map Kibera team has done in

Kenya (Google, 2011).

Open StreetMap (OSM) relies heavily on satellite imagery to create their vector-based

maps of the world. This can be particularly helpful in situations, such as after the

earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, where no maps existed of Port-au-Prince, but

Figure 5-2. QR code for the URL of the University of Reykjavik main page


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within seven days an uploadable working map became available for first responders’

GPS (Heinzelman & Waters, 2010).

Open StreetMap also utilizes volunteers on the ground to verify the accuracy of the

remotely created maps. They do this by walking, biking or driving through the area with

a GPS. This combination of remote analysis with local analysis increases the accuracy

of the maps dramatically (Mooney, Corcoran, & Winstanley, 2010).

5.4 Mapping the community

Many developing countries suffer from not having enough money to map their suburbs,

countryside and slums. Often the slums are ignored since they do not formally exist on a

map and are therefore often not included in the city’s planning. Another problem is

often shortage of people to survey the land and the knowledge to do so. A lot of data has

been collected throughout the years but information sharing has not been very effective,

causing different NGOs, governments and other organizations to do the work more than

once.

Recently, however, there has been a drive towards opening up public access to various

governmental data. Having an open government will give the citizens the rights to

access documents and proceedings, fight corruption, promote transparency and

empower the citizens. This effort has reached Kenya with websites, such as Kenya

Open Data (Kenya Open Data, 2011). On that site, the Kenyan government is making

their data available to anyone with access to the internet. This willingness to openly

share information is now becoming commonplace within developing countries and is

supported through the donor community (Kenya Open Data, 2011; Government of

Kenya, 2011).

At the local level there is also a shift towards community-driven mapping. A good

example of this is the Map Kibera project, which focuses on creating community-driven

maps for the Kibera slum (Primoz, 2011 A).

At first it is necessary to map the community roughly by marking in green space,

community spaces, streets and houses. After that the details can be worked on. By doing

this, it is easier to identify which families need assistance, which need basic services

and how they should be assisted. Although mapping can also be used for the

environment or for addressing food poverty, or to identify flood or fire prone areas, it

also strengthens the community and opens the opportunity for discussion (WaterAid,

2005).

5.5 Public Participation GIS

The broadening use of GIS from its applications by professionals to its application by

the broader public has extended the use of GIS in urban planning to what is now

regarded as Public Participation GIS (PPGIS). Through the use of internet-based

technologies, in particular web-based GIS, the public is given an opportunity to


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influence and interact with the urban planning process (Chang, Lin, Kuo, Yeh, & Chi,

2008).

Online PPGIS can be used to supplement or augment the more traditional methods of

participation (Steinmann, Krek, & Blaschke, 2004). They give the citizen the ability to

see in a visual and interactive way the proposals at hands, something that can be

difficult to achieve through the more classical methods of consultation.

Although GIS offers excellent ways of analyzing and capturing phenomena, the

technology does not capture the historical, cultural or everyday life. This is where

PPGIS gives the public the possibility to express suggestions on selected maps or even

help out in the mapping process rather than just visualize maps without the option to

comment on changes ahead that could affect their future.

A local example of this kind of participation is in the Kibera slum where Map Kibera

has offered the public the opportunity to map their own surroundings, giving them a

more visual understanding of their neighborhood and allowing them to be a part of their

community upgrade. It also gives the community the option of expressing their needs

(Primoz, 2011 B).

A good example of this from another part of the world, India, shows that having a map,

slum dwellers can more confidently and convincingly talk to the municipality about the

problems affecting their community (Hoyt, Khosla, & Canepa, 2005). Large numbers of

people living in the slums of New Delhi got the chance to participate in the mapping

process for their slum. By calling a community meeting on the street corners of the

neighborhoods in one of the slums, the mapping team drew a map of the community

directly on the ground with chalk. Objects, such as sticks, pebbles and leaves, were then

used by residents to represent their homes and indicate how many people lived in their

household. A stick represented a man, a leaf, a woman and pebbles, children. By using

the objects there was a better chance of more people attending due to the high rate of

illiteracy. In the end the information was gathered and finally digitized (Hoyt, Khosla,

& Canepa, 2005).

By placing these maps online the slum dwellers can then share information about their

community around the world and potentially get more visibility for the conditions they

live in. Furthermore it can enable slum dwellers in multiple countries to share best

practices on improving their lives through mapping. Since very few citizens in the slum

have internet access, it is important to make the maps more accessible to the citizens of

the slums (Lundine, 2011).

5.6 Mobile phones

In the last five years mobile telephony has spread more rapidly than any other

technology in the history of sub-Saharan Africa. In particular Kenya has witnessed such

phenomenal growth in the use of mobile phones that it is way beyond the predictions of

most experts in the field.


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According to statistics from Wireless Intelligence, it took about 20 years for the first

billion mobile phones to be sold worldwide. The second billion sold in four years, and

the third billion sold in only two years (Corbett, 2008).

According to the most recent ICT Facts and Figures published by the International

Telecommunication Union (ITU) in 2010, it is estimated that by the end of 2010, there

will be 5.3 billion mobile cellular subscriptions worldwide. More than 90% of the world

population has access to mobile networks and 80% of the population living in rural

areas. While mobile subscriptions in developed countries are reaching saturation levels,

the developing world is increasing its share of mobile subscriptions from 53% of total

mobile subscriptions at the end of 2005 to 73% at the end of 2010 (ITU, 2010). It is

estimated that in the developing world, mobile cellular penetration rates have reached

68% at the end of 2010. However, in the African region, these same penetration rates

will reach an estimated 41% at the end of 2010 (compared to 76% globally), leaving

significant potential for growth (ITU, 2010).

While the developed world had achieved almost universal connectivity with high levels

of reliability, Africa had neither, remaining a region where phones were scarce and

often did not function reliably. Africa, being one of the poorest continents in the world,

would likely be a slow adopter of technology, has proven to be one of the leading

adopters of mobile-based technology. This has been helped in great measure by the

deregulation of telecommunications in a large number of African countries, which has

freed up the technology in a remarkable way (Shrum, Mbatia, Palackal, Dzorgbo,

Duque, & Ynalvez, 2010).

According to a study done by the Financial Service in Kenya, 47.5% of Kenyan adults

owned a mobile phone in 2009. The ownership of mobile phones in Nairobi was at the

same time 80.4% (Kenya, Financial Sector Deepening, 2009). However this does raise a

question as to whether the numbers are correct, since the number of slum dwellers is

unknown in Nairobi.

It is, however, interesting that when looking at the major driving element for the

adoption of mobile technology in Kenya, that it is not voice calls, but rather the

introduction of “mobile money banking services”. Introduced in Kenya in 2006, by

Safaricom, mPesa quickly became the way for people to transfer of money from person

to person, paying bills and salaries, and purchasing of goods, quickly bypassing the

traditional banking system (GSMA, 2010). This type of banking, however, is not

available in Europe due to banking regulations.

While electronic transactions are the key method used, cash can also be paid and

withdrawn at mPesa agent outlets, like local Safaricom dealers or other kinds of retailers

such as petrol stations, supermarkets and local shops (see Figure 5-3).


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Figure 5-3. mPesa sales agents in Nairobi, Kenya

Unlike for fixed-line phone networks and traditional banking, which both require

customers to have a permanent address, the mobile phone allows anyone with access to

a mobile phone to make financial transactions. For the informal economy in the slums,

this becomes a very important tool and provides additional safety to merchants and

shoppers who no longer need to carry money. According to Safaricom’s latest annual

report, around 20% of Kenya’s GDP currently flows through mPesa (Hersman, 2010).

Although transaction costs within mPesa are low, it has also become the most profitable

value-added mobile service in a market where margins on voice calls and text messages

are very low.

5.7 Reaching citizens via mobile phones

In recent years, the internet has become a popular mechanism for reaching citizens in

developed countries. With over 71% of the population online there, it becomes an ideal

channel for providing them with information about urban planning issues and to request

their feedback. This has not become as ideal in the developing countries, where only

21% of the population is online. The situation is even worse in Africa where, by the end

of 2010, internet user penetration reached only 9.6% (ITU, 2010).

This has led to multiple projects in the developing world, which focus on the use of

mobile technology to communicate with citizens. Examples of these include public

health workers in South Africa using text messages to remind tuberculosis patients to

take their medication and a service in Kenya that allows people to utilize text messages

to ask anonymous questions about subjects like AIDS, breast cancer and sexually

transmitted diseases (Corbett, 2008).

There are also experiments going on around the world looking at the possibilities for

utilizing mobile technologies in the area of urban governance. Most of these focus on

providing citizens with information about what the city is doing and allowing people to


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sign up for notifications of urban governance issues being addressed (INTELCITIES,

2006).

There are also quite a few experiments that focus on getting citizens to report issues

about or document the urban areas they live in. Quite a few of them are built around the

more sophisticated smartphones (iPhones, etc.) and the ability to take pictures and

automatically record the location the pictures have been taken. Unfortunately very few

of these more advanced phone features are available to people in the developing

countries (Kottamasu, 2007).

Very few experiments have been done that try not only to provide information in one

direction, but also try to create a bi-directional flow of information between urban

inhabitants and urban authorities (Carver, 2003).

Another interesting new field of experiments focuses on utilizing data about mobile

phone usage to provide behavioral data sets. Through “mobile phone call logs, it is

possible to track human movement, infer socioeconomic status, and gain a

comprehensive view into the functionality of societies and entire countries”

(Wesolowski & Eagle, 2010). These large data sets, which have had all personal

information of the users removed, require no self-reporting surveys or interviews allow

human behavior to be quantified, something that would be difficult to obtain from other

methods of research.


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6 Results

During the research trip to Nairobi, Kenya two major slum upgrade projects were

looked at as case studies. The first one was a completed upgrade project in Mathare that

ran between 1992 and 2008. The second one was in Kibera and is part of KENSUP,

described earlier. For each of the two case studies, an overview of the project is

presented, the level of community participation in the project identified and finally the

role of technology in the project is discussed.

The results are based on a number of interviews done before and during the field trip, as

well as results of correspondence with a number of NGOs that work in the Kibera and

Mathare slums (see complete list of organizations surveyed and people interviewed in

appendix A).

6.1 Case Study: Mathare 4A Housing Project 1992-2008

6.1.1 Overview of project

The Mathare 4A Housing Project started in 1992 as a joint effort between the

government of Kenya and Germany, implemented by the Amani Housing Trust, which

was set up by the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi (Kigochie, 2001). It was initiated by

a German catholic priest from the local Saint Benedict Catholic church, which was

appalled by the lack of infrastructure for his parishioners. He went to Germany and

lobbied Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KFW), a German government-owned

development bank based in Frankfurt to finance the project (B. Otieno, personal

communication, 23 November 2011).

As a result of this involvement by the German government, the project became

commonly known by the slum dwellers as the “German project” and the houses became

known as the “German houses” (G. Dima, personal communication, December 1, 2011).

The land in question was owned by the government and was released to the Amani

Housing Trust. The structures (shanties) on the land were owned by people who either

settled there early or had acquired them from the early settlers. These structure owners

had no formal land tenure.

One of the key principles behind the project was to ensure that tenants would not get

displaced during infrastructure improvements, such as the building of roads, walking

paths, toilets, etc. (Malombe, 1997). This was done by providing housing for those who

were displaced and ensuring that their rent did not change. Furthermore the structure

owners were compensated for their structures (B. Otieno, personal communication,

November 23, 2011).

People living in the shanties were provided with rooms in cheap concrete houses based

on the number of family members. Each room was 9m2 in size. The tenants paid rent to

the project and part of it was utilized to reinvest back into the community in form of

maintenance. The intention was that any surplus would be utilized to create more formal

housing (B. Otieno, personal communication, November 23, 2011).


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The first hurdle the project faced was with the owners of the structures that were to be

demolished to make ways for roads, footpaths and toilets. The land on which their

structures stood was owned by the government, and they did not have any deeds for the

house. Many of the structure owners had been early residents of the area and were also

living there, while renting out a few houses nearby (G. Nyagoa, personal

communication, November 26, 2011). Since the land was not owned by the structure

owners, only the value of the structures themselves was evaluated and the structure

owners compensated accordingly. For many of the structure owners this meant a loss of

income, and they had to look for new sources of livelihood. Afterwards many of the

structure owners felt cheated by the government, as the amount they were given as

compensation was similar to three months of rental income (G. Nyagoa, personal

communication, November 26, 2011).

Figure 6-1. Looking over deteriorated rooftops of the "German project" in Mathare 4A

Residents living in the areas that were to be cleared were to be relocated to an area

nearby that had been a swamp. Temporary housing was to be built there until more

permanent housing could be built using the surplus from the rental income. This newly

cleared area became known as the Temporary Area or T-Area (B. Otieno, personal


To determine which citizens would be relocated, a survey was done of each of the

structures to be demolished to get data about each family. The current rent and

information about their social condition was gathered to determine what level of rent (at

or below the current rent) could be collected in the new housing (B. Otieno, personal


During this process the citizens were told that if they lived in the new housing provided,

for ten years, they would own the house themselves (a rent-to-own scheme). This was

yet another incentive for people to participate in this project (G. Nyagoa, personal


The project started very well, with the swampy area being dried up and made ready for

construction. The citizens participated in the construction effort and the temporary

housing was quickly built. This allowed for the citizens to move in and their old homes

to be demolished, making ways for roads, footpaths, space for sewer lines, etc. Overall

people were very happy with the project and so were the donors (B. Otieno, personal



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Then during the 1997 parliamentary elections, politicians started interfering with the

project. They told people that the donors should be assisting people and that people

should not have to pay rent for housing that had already been built. This “election

promise” was an easy way for the politician to get people to elect them, but it

completely broke down the financing schema that was the basis behind continuing the

project. The money required for maintenance and building of further housing started

drying up as some people stopped paying (B. Otieno, personal communication,

November 23, 2011).

This was further exacerbated in the 2002 parliamentary election when politicians

convinced those who were still paying some rent to stop paying until the permanent

housing was provided, instead of the temporary houses they currently lived in. In the

end this detrimental political interference led the German donors to pull out of the

project, and in 2008 it was permanently moved over to the Ministry of Land and

Housing (B. Otieno, personal communication, November 23, 2011).

6.1.2 Community participation

From the start of the project the community was involved. There were six different

areas that were being cleared and the residents elected representatives from each area.

Where toilets were being built for each ten households, one representative was elected.

This guaranteed even representation from both those who were being relocated to new

houses as well as those who were receiving improved living conditions. Through these

representatives, the community was involved in the decision making process and was

able to communicate problems that arose (B. Otieno, personal communication,

November 23, 2011).

Figure 6-2. Housing in Mathare 4A, before, during and after construction

Source: (Ministry of Housing, 2011)

The project also became a source of livelihood for some of the people living in the area,

since most of the construction was done utilizing citizens of the area, apart from experts

like engineers and architects (see Figure 6-2). People interviewed as part of the citizen

focus group felt that during this period they had been included in the decision making

and that their voice had been taken into consideration.

This method of collaboration worked well until 2002, but then as previously mentioned

the funding dried up, due to people no longer willing to pay any rent. At the same time


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the population had grown organically over the period of ten years and the need for

additional housing became an issue.

Until this point, the project had been run almost entirely by the Amani Housing Trust

without any significant involvement by the government. Without any source of funding

and since the donor did not want to provide additional funding for housing, they had no

option other than to involve the government. The German donor was, however,

unwilling to funnel funding through the Kenyan government and insisted on channeling

the funds for infrastructure improvements through the church. The government of

Kenya, therefore, did not have any funds to get deeply involved in the project and only

provided some support through governmental engineers who provided technical know-

how to the project.

With the lack of improvements, the residents felt that nobody was coming to their aid.

The Kenyan government did not assist them. The Amani Housing Trust was not

assisting them, and the donor was not supporting them anymore. Violence erupted, with

the residents beating the staff of the Amani Housing Trust and threats being made. The

residents pointed towards the ten-year, rent-to-own scheme and insisted that they did

not want the program to continue and that now they owned the housing (B. Otieno,

personal communication, November 23, 2011).

The donors became very disappointed, especially since local politicians had used people

and manipulated them into becoming violent over issues that could have been solved

within the community. The church and the Amani Housing Trust worked hard over the

following years to attempt to address this issue, holding multiple workshops and

seminars. In the end it was attempted to create a cooperative society around the project

and to transfer the deed to the land to that cooperative. People would continue to pay a

nominal rent to the cooperative society and through that rent new rooms would be

constructed. This solution, however, also failed in the end due to influence from

politicians who utilized tribal mixing as an argument against the cooperative society (B.

Otieno, personal communication, November 23, 2011).

In 2008, the German donor handed the project formally over to the government of

Kenya. The government of Kenya put this project under the Ministry of Land and

Housing – KENSUP and currently utilizes the Amani Housing Trust community

building as a community training center. The government has made no further

investments in the project. The residents pay no rent and no funds are available for any

maintenance, resulting in the gradually deteriorating condition of the temporary houses

as can be seen in Figure 6-1 (B. Otieno, personal communication, November 23, 2011).

Clearly the tenants of the “German project” were consulted in the beginning of the

upgrading project, and if compared to the “ladder of citizen participation”, the fourth

step would be the obvious one as the citizens got to express their opinion and be

actively involved in the decision making. However, the landlords felt they were

manipulated as they were not very involved in the decision making process. They had


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built the structures on government land and made their livelihood from the rent and felt

it was taken away from them without much consultation.

Another interesting point about the level of involvement is that the government did not

have the trust of the donors because the funding went through the church. By doing this

the government of Kenya did not have much direct involvement during the upgrading

project. In many ways the only government involvement was that their name was put on

the project papers.

6.1.3 Use of technology

During the planning phase of the project, satellite imagery was utilized to help with the

planning. Infrastructure planning for roads, housing, water and sanitation did utilize GIS

technology available at the time (see Figure 6-3). Some of this was shared with the

public in the project office, which is located next to the new housing area. This allowed

the citizens to get a visual overview of the upgrade plans.

Figure 6-3. Before and after satellite imagery of Mathare 4A

Source: (Ministry of Housing, 2011)

The entire Mathare 4A area was mapped, with boundaries. Each shelter was identified

and numbered to enable detailed assessment of each household affected. A detailed

survey was performed gathering information for each household. These were then

utilized to decide both who should move, how many rooms they needed and how much

rent they could afford.

During the latter stages of the project, a website was created to share information with

the citizens. This website, however, was not maintained after the project was handed

over to the government and is no longer available. It is very unlikely that any citizens of

the slums actually used this website because internet access in the country at that time

was limited to the upper-class and foreign expats living there.

The Mathare project also happened before the explosive growth of mobile-phone

ownership. The focus group interviewed, however, all had mobile phones, and two out

of the 11 had internet access through their phones, although only one of them was

actively utilizing it.


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6.1.4 Mathare - beyond the “German project”

The failure of the Mathare 4A project and the political issues associated with it has

deterred other large-scale projects from starting in Mathare. When the Ministry of Land

and Housing took over the Mathare 4A project, they started by painting the gates of the

Amani Housing Trust offices with KENSUP, leading to rumors inside Mathare that the

large-scale KENSUP, already underway in Kibera, was also coming to Mathare. This,

however, quickly proved to be unsubstantiated (G. Dima, personal communication,

December 1, 2011).

There are, however, many small-scale improvement projects going on in Mathare,

mainly led by NGOs. These mostly focus on improving health, livelihood, education,

water and sanitation and other basic services and do not focus on improved housing.

The NGOs surveyed and community leaders interviewed (see a complete list in

appendix A) believe that Mathare will never be upgraded due to many illegal activities,

such as renting of shanties and illegal alcohol industry, etc. Any improvement in

housing must take into account the structure owners and work through them (G. Dima,

personal communication, December 1, 2011). People are willing to participate in

upgrading projects if offered the opportunity, as long as they feel it will not cost them

anything and they know they will gain in the long run (J. Ochieng, personal


One way of gaining a better understanding of the current conditions in Mathare has been

the extension of the Map Kibera project into Mathare under the name Map Mathare.

This project, done in collaboration with Plan International and UN-HABITAT has

focused not only on mapping the roads and structures within Mathare, but also on

mapping where there is access to water and toilets (see Figure 6-5). The results of this

work are expected to be utilized by the NGO community to advocate for improvements

and to assist in planning of future projects (Lundine, 2011).

Figure 6-4. Map of Mathare, showing water taps, churches, toilets, etc.

Source: (Open StreetMap, 2011)


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6.2 Case Study: Kibera – KENSUP 2005-2020

6.2.1 Overview of project

Kibera, being the largest slum in Kenya, compromising 12 villages that cover around

225 hectares of land and with a population of over 500,000 people, was one of the slums

identified to be part of KENSUP.

The initial step of this program focused on clearing out houses in the informal

settlement in Soweto East village and replacing them with more formal and permanent

housing (see Figure 6-6). To achieve this, a decanting site was built near the Langata

area that could house people temporarily while the more permanent houses were being

built (Ministry of Housing, 2011). Those who were eligible to move to the decanting

site received passes that identified them as the citizens who should get the new housing

(D. Namale, personal communication, November 22, 2011).

The building of the decanting site was successful and 17 five-story blocks of flats with

600 three-room, self-contained units were ready by 2009. Around 1,300 residents from

the first area to be cleared, commonly referred to as Zone A in Soweto East, moved in

to those in September that year (IRIN, 2009).

Figure 6-5. Houses in the decanting site in Langata

Source: (BBC News, 2009)

Based on the original plan, it was expected it would take from two to five years to clear

the informal areas of the slum, but legal action has stopped the progress of the project.

Over 80 plaintiffs, a mix of residents and landlords took legal action, which currently is

in the High Court against their shanties being demolished. Part of their claims is that the

land does not belong to the government but to the Nubian community, which has lived

on it for over a decade (BBC News, 2009).

The legal delays have led to the stalling of the project in Kibera, and while some of the

citizens relocated have not been able to pay the 1,000 KSh monthly rent and have hence

been evicted, others have moved back to the shanties and rent out their temporary

housing to wealthier tenants willing to pay up to 3,000 KSh a month (Kiprotich, 2011).

There are also cases of residents living in the temporary housing who have sold their

“upgrading passes” and moved back into rural areas or other slums (D. Namale,

personal communication, November 22, 2011). Furthermore, new residents have moved


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into the area that was to be cleared and into the shanties where people who moved into

temporary housing used to live. Many of them are unaware of the fact that these

shanties are scheduled to be demolished (D. Namale, personal communication,

November 22, 2011; W. Ombese, personal communication, November 25, 2011).

Based on (Ministry of Housing, 2011) the following, additional goals have also been

achieved as part of KENSUP Kibera project:

Election of Settlement Executive Committees in Soweto village

Socio-economic mapping of the whole settlement has been completed.

Physical mapping, undertaken in collaboration with Ministry of Lands (Physical

Planning Department), is underway.

A draft master plan for Kibera, based on the above data, is being finalized.

A road design approved and a tender awarded for the construction of 1.25km

road beginning from Mbagathi Way

Four cooperatives formed with assistance from the Ministry of Cooperatives and

registered in Soweto East. The groups were formed according to the zones in

Soweto East.

6.2.2 Community participation

As part of the KENSUP strategy, the Kenyan government stated it was going to involve

the beneficiary communities in the slum upgrading process. Their strategy document

clearly describes how the involvement of the communities will ensure the ownership

and success of the slum upgrading program. This role of the community is to be

emphasized throughout the upgrading program from inception, preparation and

implementation, to monitoring and evaluation, giving the slum dwellers an active and

direct role in the process (Republic of Kenya, 2004).

The following actions are to be done to ensure an effective community participation

process (Republic of Kenya, 2004):

Strengthening forms of community organization and relations between structure

owners and tenants

Assisting communities to set up such organizations where they do not exist

Adequate community education, sensitization and engagement to mobilize

communities around slum upgrading issues and activities

Enabling communities to take control and develop a stake in maintaining

projects by allowing them to become decision makers and investors rather than

subjects and (or) objects

Facilitating the formation of cooperative and community-resource-mobilization

groups

To embrace the principle of stakeholder inclusivity at the community level, KENSUP

established a Settlement Executive Committee (SEC), composed of a cross-section of

representation groups (e.g., structure owners, tenants, gender, disabled, religion, etc.).

The role of the SEC was to act as the interface between the project team and the


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citizens, making sure their voice was heard and to enable communication about the

progress of the project to the rest of the community (Republic of Kenya, 2004).

Based on the research done, community participation in the Kibera upgrade started out

well, but became less and less successful as the project continued. The SEC met initially

twice a week, and information was flowing to the community (D. Namale, personal

communication, November 22, 2011). During this phase people were consulted as they

moved to the decanting site from the area of their slum that was to be upgraded.

The KENSUP strategy document was never made generally available in the slums (see

Figure 6-7). People would have needed to find out where to get a copy of it if they knew

it existed. Maps were created but just like the strategic document they were not

distributed within the slums leading people to be generally unaware of how much

upgrading was to be done, how many houses were to be built and what slum upgrading

was really about (D. Namale, personal communication, November 22, 2011).

Figure 6-6. Front page of KENSUP Implementation Strategy

Source: (Republic of Kenya, 2004)

The local KENSUP office within Kibera did not have copies of the plans or any maps

available for the citizens (W. Ombese, personal communication, November 25, 2011).

Those who wanted copies had to make appointments with the Ministry of Housing to

receive further information (W. Ombese, personal communication, November 25,

2011). For many of the citizens, this would mean the loss of a day of work to go to

downtown Nairobi to visit the Ministry.

After the initial phase, the citizens felt that their voices were not being listened to. The

government asked them for input, but then came back with plans that did not include

any of the input given. This resulted in the citizens forming their own community group


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that monitored the project and openly discussed what was going on (W. Ombese,


None of the surveyed NGOs had been approached to participate or play any role in the

slum upgrading process (see a complete list of NGOs surveyed in Appendix A). Lack of

belief in the government projects also leads many of them not to approach the

government to get involved (J. Lundine, personal communication, November 22, 2011).

As the legal complications arose, communication with the community stopped and the

community became less and less involved in the process. Today many of the citizens

expect years to pass before any further progress is made (D. Namale, personal


If compared against Arnstein’s ladder of citizen participation, a type of therapy has

taken place where the citizens have been engaged in different activities and made to

think they are involved in the upgrading process. Information only goes one way if there

is any, although the official papers seem never to have been distributed and citizens

seem not to have had a real say in what was being done in the community.

As a result of this therapy type of community involvement, many of the residents have

lost faith in the government’s intention to actually listen to their needs (W. Ombese,

personal communication, November 25, 2011). This is likely to further hinder the

success of future upgrade projects.

6.2.3 Use of technology

Based on the field and literature research, there has been little direct use of technology

in the KENSUP Kibera project. The KENSUP strategy document discusses physical

mapping of the Kibera slum, but those maps are not easily accessible outside of the

project team. The maps created are used to help plan the project. The informal

settlements in the Kibera Valley were divided into zones that were to be upgraded

sequentially.

There has been no attempt to utilize mobile technologies as part of the KENSUP Kibera

project, but it has to be kept in mind that the project itself started before the explosive

growth of mobile ownership in the slums.

KENSUP does not have its own website, but rather has a sub-page on the Ministry of

Housing website. That website, however, offers very limited documentation and

information. Many of the project documents, such as the KENSUP strategy document

and subsequent updates, are available on the UN-HABITAT website.

The lack of accessibility to key project documents and maps on government websites

makes it very difficult for citizens, especially those with low internet literacy, to find

electronic versions of the documents, even those that are available online.

6.2.4 Beyond KENSUP

There are thousands of NGOs working inside Kibera and most of them are in one way

or another working on improving the living conditions of people in Kibera. It is often


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40

said that since Kibera is the largest slum, and since KENSUP is focusing on it, every

NGO wants to work there, often ignoring other slums, where conditions may be worse

than in Kibera.

Forced evictions still occur regularly within Kibera and a complex political and legal

environment often makes it difficult for citizens to know their rights. Recent changes in

the constitution of Kenya have improved the rights of tenants but often these get ignored

(W. Ombese, personal communication, November 25, 2011).

Right now there is a plan being made to move another 10,000 people to other locations

due to a highway that will run through Kibera Valley. People seem little informed, only

knowing that a road is coming but not when or exactly where (D. Namale & J. Ochieng,


A local NGO called Map Kibera has been mobilizing youth from the Kibera slum to

produce digital maps of the Kibera Valley (see Figure 6-8). After training the youth for

a few months, they are able to map their own community with more detail as compared

to organizations being sent in to map. The original idea behind Map Kibera was to

provide the citizens with a tool to better understand their own environment that could

also be utilized to lobby the government for improvements (J. Lundine, personal


The Map Kibera project has been widely heralded as a successful way of mapping

informal communities and has been replicated to three other slums in Kenya. Although

the initial intention of utilizing it as a tool for the citizens has not been as successful as

planned, they have been collaborating with a number of other NGOs that see the maps

as a planning and awareness building tool for their projects. In order to make the maps

more accessible to the slum dwellers, Map Kibera is going to work with local artists and

get them to paint the maps on walls in a few locations around Kibera (J. Lundine,


Figure 6-7. Map of Kibera, showing clinics, churches, water taps, etc.

Source: (Open StreetMap, 2011)


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41

7 Discussion

This chapter will provide an overview of the key issues affecting the slum upgrade

projects, discuss ways to improve community participation and look at the potential role

of technology in that process.

7.1 Issues affecting slum upgrade projects in Nairobi

Based on the literature review and the interviews performed and described in chapter 6,

a number of issues affect the slum upgrade projects both in Mathare and Kibera. This

section will highlight the key issues affecting both of the projects. The issues will be

discussed along with ways to improve them, where possible. The issues are grouped

into political issues as well as lack of transparency, involvement, understanding and

trust.

7.1.1 Political issues

As described in sections 6.1.1 and 6.2.1 in both upgrade projects, political involvement

caused issues. When elections are near, politicians come into the community and make

election promises that change people’s opinions on projects already underway (B.

Otieno, personal communication, November 23, 2011). Often these politicians utilize

large projects, such as these as a platform for gaining popularity. Often tribal politics

also play a role, most recently in the post-election violence that erupted following the

2008 parliamentary elections (G. Dima, personal communication, December 1, 2011).

Lack of broad political support behind these projects causes them to become polarized

and used by politicians to gain popularity (G. Dima, personal communication,

December 1, 2011). Lack of coordination between the different political levels

(national, district, city council) also adds another layer of complexity on the political

issues . Corruption is still a problem within Kenya, and as a result, politicians and other

officials at different levels are often bribed to “work around the system” (G. Dima,

personal communication, December 1st, 2011).

Based on these findings, unless the political issues are addressed and a broad coalition

of political parties at all levels is behind the projects, they are likely to face issues

similar to those that led to the termination of the Mathare 4A project.

7.1.2 Lack of transparency

As described in section 6.1.2, in the Mathare 4A project, information was more readily

available to the citizens of the slums than in the KENSUP Kibera project. The KENSUP

Kibera project, however, was more accessible to outsiders, since some of the project

documents are available online (W. Ombese, personal communication, November 25,

2011).

However, based on the discussion with the community leaders and the citizen focus

group (see Appendix A for a complete list), neither project was very transparent about

the overall plan. Citizens were surveyed and asked about their needs, but when it came

to presenting the overall plan and objectives, these were in most cases not widely

known or understood by the citizens.


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42

As a consequence of this, more work needs to be done in making sure that all project

plans, maps and documents are easily accessible. This access should be provided both

online and physically close to where the citizens live and the information should be

provided in an easy to understand manner. The current situation is best described by the

following excerpt from Douglas Adams’s book Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

(Adams, 1979):

"But the plans were on display ..."

"On display? I eventually had to go down to the cellar to find them."

"That's the display department."

"With a torch."

"Ah, well the lights had probably gone."

"So had the stairs."

"But look, you found the notice didn't you?"

"Yes," said Arthur, "yes I did. It was on display in the bottom of a locked filing cabinet

stuck in a disused lavatory with sign on the door saying Beware of the Leopard."

7.1.3 Lack of involvement

Based on interviews with the informants from the communities, involvement in the first

phases of both of the projects was good. Citizens praised how they felt that they were a

part of the project. But as the projects evolved, their input was not considered as much

and eventually they did not become an integral part of the project (D. Namale, personal


As described in section 4.3, successful community participation requires the

involvement of the community at all stages of the project, not just in the initial phases.

If properly done, the structures put in place for community involvement should survive

the project itself and act as a community coordination mechanism for issues that arise

after the completion of the project (Imparato & Ruster, 2003).

For many of the people who live in the slums, life focuses on ensuring that they can

have some food on the table and that they can have some shelter over their head. Many

of them live on two USD or less per day. For them to participate and be actively

involved in a project like KENSUP Kibera or Mathare 4A, it means that they need to be

compensated for their participation and have expectations that the project will improve

their lives (G. Dima, personal communication, December 1, 2011).

Compensating for the loss of work can also have an adverse effect on the level of

participation of the citizen. Instead of expressing their voice, citizens may simply agree

to everything they are told because they fear that if they express their real opinion, they

may lose the opportunity for future compensation (J. Impio, personal communication,

November 29, 2011).

7.1.4 Lack of understanding

Community leaders interviewed and NGOs surveyed pointed out that many of the

citizens may lack an understanding of how they can be involved in the process of

improving the area they live in (see a complete list of community leaders and NGOs in


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43

Appendix A). Although the literacy rate is relatively high in Kenya compared to other

sub-Saharan countries, many of the slum dwellers are unaware of their rights (W.

Ombese, personal communication, November 25, 2011).

7.1.5 Lack of trust

Large-scale pilot projects, such as the Mathare 4A project and the Soweto East Zone A

project, need to be closely monitored and fostered. As pointed out in section 6.1.4 if

these pilot projects fail, it is likely to severely hinder future projects. Lack of listening to

the community in a pilot project will drive lack of trust in future projects (G. Dima,

personal communication, December 1, 2011).

Decades of corruption and broken promises have also created distrust in anything that

the government or politicians say. This increased dramatically following the post-

election violence in 2008, when election results were forged by the ruling party (G.

Dima, personal communication, December 1, 2011).

Literature points out that in order to regain the trust required to move large-scale

projects like these forward, transparency needs to be increased and the voice of the

citizens must be listened to (Imparato & Ruster, 2003). The broader community needs

also to be involved to ensure that different aspects are taken into consideration

(Davidoff, 1965). People also need to be made aware of their rights and of the ways in

which they can be involved in the process (W. Ombese, personal communication,

November 25, 2011).

The international community also needs to put trust in the local citizens. Today they

come in and build a clinic, schools, toilets, etc. and then want to continue running it as

part of their in-country operations. This makes the Kenyans feel like the international

community does not trust them. It is important that Kenyan citizens and local

community organizations are instead empowered to improve their own surroundings

and that the international community provides the guidance, the funding and the

monitoring required to successfully empowering them (G. Dima, personal

communication, December 1, 2011).

7.2 Improving community participation

As mentioned in section 4.4, it is important to look at to what extent the people are

involved in the slum upgrade. It is important to not only have people involved in the

early stages but that they are involved throughout the whole process to ensure that they

feel ownership of the project, so that they cherish it and are proud of it (Imparato &

Ruster, 2003).

As the findings in chapter 6 shows, unfortunately, the people have mainly been involved

in the beginning of the projects or not at all. Both of the projects have had one-way

communication, if any at all, to inform people about what the plans are for the slum

dwellers. Using the definitions in Arnstein’s Ladder of Citizen Participation (Arnstein,

1969), it can be concluded that in many ways, the people are being manipulated into


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44

thinking they are involved, their participation is not real, since most decisions have

already been made (W. Ombese, personal communication, November 25, 2011).

As sections 6.1.1 and 6.2.1 point out then people have gained some better housing and

short-term work while the buildings are being built, but the projects fail to finalize, and

in the meantime, the structures they gained deteriorate and the people are yet again left

with sub-standard living conditions. As a result, people have lost hope for a better future

since they feel that they were manipulated into believing things would get better (J.

Ochienge, personal communication, November 22, 2011).

Organizations, both governmental and NGOs that are moving into the slums to start

projects, need to do a better job of involving the community from the beginning. The

slum dwellers often feel that some of the organizations come into their area to do

projects for the organization’s sake and not to solve issues that the slum confronts (G.

Dima, personal communication, December 1, 2011). Due to lack of coordination among

these various organizations involved, there will be duplication of efforts related to

popular slums or popular fields while other areas and fields are left unsupported (G.

Dima, personal communication, December 1, 2011).

Involvement of the slum dwellers from the start in identifying important unmet needs

and underserved areas is essential to help focus the work being done. Mapping of what

is currently being done and by whom would also help in identifying these gaps and

overlaps (G. Dima, personal communication, December 1, 2011). Finally, it is important

for this work to create jobs for the slum dwellers, not just jobs for well-educated people.

Allowing slum dwellers to provide their share of the work as sweat-equity is also

essential since many of them cannot afford to put any financial equity into solutions in

their area.

Community leaders (see Appendix A for a complete list) pointed out in their interviews

that until new technology is available and actively used the people are not going to gain

much with short community meetings, as the slums are overwhelmingly large and

information not easily spread to everyone.

Citizen participation is still fairly new for slum dwellers and is still a learning process.

People are not used to their voice being heard and are still suspicious that plans are not

at all what they appear to be (W. Ombese, personal communication, November 25,

2011). It is therefore important that appropriate levels of involvement are ensured and

real participation is aimed for rather than the lower manipulation levels, as described by

Arnstein in section 4.4, which unfortunately end up being too often the case.

7.3 The role of technology

As shown in the research presented in the last chapter (see sections 6.1.3 and 6.2.3),

technology is not playing a direct role yet in increasing citizen participation in the slum

upgrades in Nairobi. There are, however, great opportunities for leveraging new and

innovative technologies for this purpose (J. Impio, personal communication, November

29, 2011).


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45

7.3.1 Existing solutions focused on improving lives of slum dwellers

A number of technology solutions, being developed in Kenya by local software

entrepreneurs, such as those fostered by iHub, do address the needs of the local

population and provide solutions to many of the issues faced by those people (A.

Crandall, personal communication, November 24, 2011).

Although not directly related to citizen participation an overview of these solutions is

presented below, since they do address the overall issue of improving lives of slum

dwellers.

Examples of these solutions pointed out by the iHub Research Project Manager (A.

Crandall, personal communication, November 24, 2011) are:

M-Maji - http://mmaji.wordpress.com/

M-Maji (Mobile Water in Swahili) is a mobile-based platform for sharing

information about water availability in slums. Water is a scarce and costly

resource in the slums. Often people, especially women and children, spend a

considerable time each day to find water at a price they can afford.

M-Maji addresses this issue by providing a mobile-based platform for water

vendors to advertise their water availability, price and location. The water buyers

then query M-Maji to find the closest and cheapest available water. The service

is free of charge and works on the most basic mobile phones.

Huduma - http://huduma.info/

Huduma (services in Swahili) is a platform that allows citizens to amplify their

voices in demand for services directly to those that provide these services. It

allows citizens to use text messages, voice calls, pictures and videos to channel

their concerns to the authorities.

Huduma is intended to serve as a free and transparent problem-solving platform

that acts as an interface between citizens and the authorities. A broad partnership

of community-based organizations and government institutions supports the

project.

Msema Kweli - http://msemakweli.ihub.co.ke/pages/home.php

Msema Kweli (“speaking the truth” in Swahili) is a smartphone application that

can be used to track and monitor ongoing community projects. It allows citizens

to provide comments and share pictures of the projects via their mobile phones.

It also allows them to get up-to-date information about projects in their area.

Comments and information about projects can easily be shared via text

messages, email and social media platform. The platform is free of charge.

http://mmaji.wordpress.com/

http://huduma.info/

http://msemakweli.ihub.co.ke/pages/home.php


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46

Kuhonga - http://kuhonga.com/

Kuhonga (“bribing” in Swahili) is a platform for tracking corruption in real time.

Citizens can report incidents of corruption either by sending an email or by using

the website. This information is then anonymously forwarded to the relevant

authorities for action.

Ushahidi – http://ushahidi.com

The Ushahidi (“evidence” in Swahili) platform was initially created during the

post-election violence in 2008 to allow people to report cases of violence and

visualize them on a map. The Ushahidi platform has since then been used in

various disaster and conflict situations around the world as well as an election

monitoring tool.

Many of the tools mentioned above utilize the Ushahidi platform as their core

underlying technology. It has facilities to accept reports from various sources,

such as text messages, email, websites, etc. and geolocate them on a map.

Reports received often require translation, verification and geo-location and this

part of the process is often crowd-sourced. A smartphone application is

available, allowing reports to be provided, as well as maps to be visualized when

connectivity is available.

Previously the Ushahidi platform had to be downloaded and installed on a web

server, but recently the Ushahidi team made their platform available as a cloud-

based solution, allowing new crowd-sourced maps to be created in minutes. This

has led to hundreds of maps, focusing on different aspects to be created. These

can be viewed at the website https://crowdmap.com.

The rapid growth of the software-entrepreneur community in Kenya and the rest of

Africa, especially those fostered through innovation hubs like iHub, is likely to produce

more solutions like these that address issues facing citizens in developing countries (A.

Crandall, personal communication, November 24, 2011).

7.3.2 The Role of Facebook and social media

The exponential growth of social networks over the last three years has reached most

continents. Facebook, with its over 800 million active worldwide users, 80% of which

are outside of the United States, has become a popular site in Africa with over 30

million users, approximately 1.1 million of which are in Kenya (Facebook, 2011;

Internet World Stats, 2011).

In the western world, Facebook is mainly used as a means of communication and

sharing information with friends and family around the world. In developing countries,

such as Kenya, social media outlets like Facebook are used by people to share

information about what is happening in their surroundings (J. Impio, personal


http://kuhonga.com/

http://ushahidi.com/

https://crowdmap.com/


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47

People use social media to share information about their success, their companies and

also to mobilize people around a cause. This is now well-known after the uprisings in

both Egypt and Libya, where people used Twitter and Facebook to share information on

gatherings and to tell the world what was happening (Hounshell, 2011).

Surprisingly, many Kenyans have access to Facebook, even in the slums. Kenyan slum

dwellers do not necessarily surf the web or use the internet actively but have free or

very inexpensive access on their mobile phones to Facebook (J. Impio, personal

communication, November 29, 2011). As a result, while internet cafes are available in

the slums, they will most likely be a thing of the past since cheap smartphones are what

most people will be investing in in the near future (Rangaswamy, 2011).

Many Kenyans refer to being on the internet as being on Facebook. They use this

communication medium not just to get information about their friends, but to gain news

from different areas in their surroundings. This means that most people add not just

friends and acquaintances but also friends of friends or people from areas that they have

interest in. This allows them to have more access to what is happening in the areas of

the world that they have interest in (J. Impio, personal communication, November 29,

2011).

In many ways it can be said that the typical greeting “habari yako” (information/news of

you in Swahili), which normally is used with a broad meaning of “what is happening

not only to you but in your surrounding area” is now being replaced electronically by

people posting status updates about what is happening in their area and in their life and

others learning about it by reading these updates.

This broad definition of what it means to be someone’s friend on Facebook means that

within the youth community, many have as many as 4,000 “friends”. Although this

allows them to get a wealth of information about what is happening in these places that

previously were not accessible to them, this many updates also cause a lot of “noise” on

Facebook, with a lot of information getting lost in the process (J. Impio, personal


Facebook and Twitter are yet to be used as an urban planning helping tool in Kenya.

Although an easy way of sharing information, people seem to be too scared of scams (as

many kinds of scams are already happening through mPesa and mobile phones).

7.3.3 Issues faced when using technology

Based on discussions with researchers from iHub, Nokia, Internexium and Microsoft in

the area of mobile use (A. Crandall, personal communication, November 24, 2011; J.

Impio, personal communication, November 29, 2011; C. Johannsen, personal

communication, November 4, 2011; N. Rangaswamy, personal communication,

November 1, 2011) then there are a number of issues that need to be taken into

consideration when applying technology to citizen participation:


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48

Trust

People in Kenya are wary of the fact that mobile technology can be used to scam

them. There are already examples of mPesa scams where people are sent a

message telling them that money has been transferred to their account. They then

get a call or text message a short time later telling them that the money was

transferred by mistake and are asked to transfer it back. Since no money was

originally transferred to their account, they lose the money when they correct the

transaction (G. Dima, personal communication, December 1, 2011). Any kind of

messages, surveys, etc. that the government or other organizations send out will

thus have to be sent out in a way that somehow verifies its authenticity. The

concept of information privacy is also relatively new to many developing

countries. Knowing where the information they share goes and what it is used

for is also important to improving trust (J. Impio, personal communication,

November 29, 2011).

Mobile literacy

Although mobile phones are widespread in the slum dwellers community, many

mobile users in developing countries are not experienced in using phones for

anything beyond basic voice calls. This can be coupled with generic literacy

issues, which may further restrict users’ ability to read text messages or on-

screen instructions (Knoche, Rao, & Huang, 2010). It is therefore essential to

design any interaction with the slum dwellers in such a way that it does not

require extensive knowledge of how to use their phones or how to read and write

(A. Crandall, personal communication, November 24, 2011). Another option

might be to utilize mobile literate facilitators who can perform surveys inside the

slums using mobile phones, asking the slum dwellers for the input (C.

Johannsen, personal communication, November 4, 2011).

Technology acceptance by government

The willingness of the government to use technology as part of the citizen

participation effort may be restricted. For many of them a culture of holding

meetings is very strong, and acceptance for trying out new methods, such as

mobile technology, may face institutional resistance. Research on and

awareness-building about mobile-based governance efforts (mGovernance) may

assist in bringing about change in this area (A. Crandall, personal


Targeting

Today the only way of reaching slum dwellers via mobile phones is if they are

willing to provide you with their mobile numbers for use in the citizen

participation efforts. Without cooperation from mobile phone operators, it is

impossible to pro-actively reach all mobile phone users within a particular area

(C. Johannsen, personal communication, November 4, 2011). There are recent


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examples of this kind of collaboration between NGOs and mobile operators,

which should be leveraged to get similar cooperation with mobile operators

serving the slum community (Trilogy International Partners; Voilá; IFRC, 2010).

By sending a text message to all users of a particular tower, they were asked if

they would be interested in participating in further communications about the

project in question. It is not until the user responds that his mobile number is

revealed to the NGO.

Simplicity

Any solution developed for slum dwellers needs to be designed in such a way

that it provides a simple and intuitive human-to-mobile interaction. The use of

symbols and images can be used to address issues, such as literacy, while at the

same time, it is important that those symbols and images correctly reflect the

issues in a cultural context that is understandable to the slum dwellers. Text

needs to be clear and written in a language and dialect that is understandable to

the user (A. Crandall, personal communication, November 24, 2011).

Incentives

Incentives, such as free mobile airtime or prizes for participation, need to be

carefully thought through. People should be appropriately compensated for the

time and effort of participating, but it is important that the incentive does not

become the only reason people participate. It is also important that the incentive

does not hinder people from providing their opinion out of fear of losing the

incentive opportunity (J. Impio, personal communication, November 29, 2011).

Simple and small incentives, such as mobile airtime, which is also effective to

track, should be considered as a preferred mechanism for rewarding people for

their time.

Types of mobile communication

As mentioned above, mobile literacy can hinder citizens from participating in

surveys or using information sharing through mobile phones. It is therefore

important to look at the different types of mobile-technology communication

options, such as voice calls, text messages (SMS), multimedia messages (MMS)

or SIM Application Toolkit (STK). For the broadest reach, it may be required to

create multiple channels of communication for the same surveys or information

sharing (A. Crandall, personal communication, November 24, 2011).

Demographic representation of mobile users

It is important to keep in mind that the demographic distribution of mobile

phone users within the slums may not represent the demographic distribution of

the inhabitants of the slums. Mobile phones, especially more technologically

advanced ones, may be more used by the younger generation, while the older,

non-internet-enabled phones will be used by the older generations. It is


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important to identify marginalized or minority groups that have low mobile

phone ownership and ensure that their voice is still heard as part of a mobile-

phone-enabled citizen participation (J. Impio, personal communication,

November 29, 2011).

7.3.4 Opportunities for further use of technology

As the previous sections point out, then there are a number of ways that technology, in

particular mobile technology, can be used to further improve citizen participation in the

slum upgrade process. The first step in that process is to get citizens to sign up their

mobile numbers for easier targeting. Once that connection has been established, the

most basic way to use mobile technology is in the form of text messages containing

information about citizen meeting schedules and other similar information (C.

Johannsen, personal communication, November 4, 2011).

Once trust has been established through the use of mobile phones for informational

purposes, the next step would be to use the phones for performing surveys to get

people’s views on issues that affect the upgrade process. This can either be done via

voice surveys or through text messages, depending on the mobile literacy of the users.

Simple incentives, such as 50 KSh airtime in return for their time, could be utilized to

improve participation (J. Impio, personal communication, November 29, 2011).

An easy way to improve flow of information is to make more of the project

documentation and maps available online. Having easy to access websites with specific

short addresses (for example http://kensup.gov.ke) would also make the information

easier to locate. Web-based mapping (for example, based on Open StreetMap) can then

be used to make information about the slum upgrades more interactive to citizens (K.

Chapman, personal communication, November 14, 2011).

As smartphone and internet-enabled phones become more readily available, specialized

applications, such as those mentioned earlier in this chapter, can be developed to

provide more interactive citizen participation (A. Crandall, personal communication,

November 24, 2011). This will be particularly applicable when trying to reach the

younger generations. Organizations, such as UN-HABITAT and Microsoft, could join

forces and encourage young software developers to develop these kinds of applications

through prize challenges, such as the Imagine Cup (Microsoft, 2011).

http://kensup.gov.ke/


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8 Conclusion

Living in the slums is a challenging life, and lack of land tenure and fear of evictions do

not make that life easier. Although there is a will to improve people’s lives, many suffer

because their opinion is not taken into consideration. As the years have passed, the

slums have only gotten bigger. Almost eight years have passed since Kenya decided to

work on slum upgrading as part of meeting the Millennium Development Goals. Only

eight more years remain until the deadline. Unless progress improves, those goals will

likely not be achieved.

In Nairobi, the Kibera projects have been stalled for over two years due to legal

complications. If there were enough political will, these matters could have been fast-

tracked through the legal system. In the meantime, people have been shut off from the

project and are not getting any news about what is going to happen to their lives in the

near future. As a result, people have lost hope and faith in a project that was to improve

their living standard.

The absence of citizen participation is still a problem in the slum upgrade projects.

People are involved in the beginning, but as the implementation phase arrives and as

problems arise, they are pushed aside. Corruption and political manipulation are still a

problem in the slums, but a glimpse of hope can be found in technological solutions,

such as Kuhonga and other innovative local technology projects like those coming out

of iHub, allow the citizens to expose these issues.

For people in the slums, the mobile phone is not only a communication device, but also

their bank and their news provider. It is important when attempting to leverage

technology to get citizens more involved that the solutions used are designed for the

technology that people currently have. While urban planners in developed countries

have for years utilized web sites for sharing information and receiving feedback about

their plans, urban planners in developing countries need to leverage mobile enabled

solutions to reach citizens in slums.

Technology enabled citizen participation in developing countries is possible today in

terms of available technology. Innovative solutions to enable this will most likely be

developed by people who fully understand the environment that these people live in.

Innovation hubs such as iHub in Nairobi that fosters technology entrepreneurs from

Nairobi need to be supported and encouraged to create solutions that can be used as part

of the slum upgrade projects.

Maps can play a critical role in describing the environment and the problems faced in

the slums in a visual manner. By gaining access to the maps from projects, such as Map

Kibera and Map Mathare, the people have a “weapon” in their hands, a physical visual

map of what problems they are facing and how their livelihoods can be improved even

just by knowing where the nearest water tap is.


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52

It is important that awareness, about projects like Map Kibera is increased by

community leaders, donors, government agencies and NGOs working in the slums and

that the maps are further leveraged as part of the slum upgrade process. It is also

important that this information is utilized by urban planners, who are working on slum

upgrade projects.

Furthermore it is important that maps and other data collected by the government as part

of the slum upgrade process is shared openly and made readily available, for example

through the Kenya Open Data initiative (Kenya Open Data, 2011).

Further research is needed to help improve citizen participation in slum upgrades.

Within iHub, a research project is underway to look at mobile governance (Ford, 2011).

This project will likely provide further insight into how mobile technology can be

utilized in developing countries to increase citizen participation at all stages, not only in

the slum upgrade projects, but in determining many aspects of their life.

Further research is needed on how citizen mapping projects, like Map Kibera, can help

improve the environment and the livelihood of slum dwellers. One aspect to look at is

whether engaging the citizens themselves as part of the mapping process increases the

likelihood of them sharing their opinion about the slum upgrades as they become more

aware of the environment they live in.

It is my hope that future generations, especially the young people of the slums, will live

to tell about the difference made by technology and the extra power it gave them to

improve their living conditions in more effective ways than their parents could.

Just like technology has supported citizen-driven revolutions in countries of Northern

Africa it may become the “weapon” needed for slum dwellers to overcome the

weaknesses of their government institutions, the rampant political corruption and the

irresponsible politicians that conspire to ruin the upgrade projects.


______________________________________________________________________

53

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Appendix A – List of informants

Informants interviewed:

Name Title Organization Conducted

Jamie Lundine Executive Director Map Kibera,

Kenya

22 Nov 2011

Face to face

Benard Otieno Administrator/Caretaker,

Mathare 4A

Ministry of

Housing, Kenya

23 Nov 2011

Face to face

Researchers Interviewed:


Kate Chapman Director Open StreetMap,

USA

14 Nov 2011

Face to face

Angela Crandall Research Project

Manager

iHub, Kenya 24 Nov 2011

Face to face

Jussi Impiö Research Leader Nokia Research

Africa

29 Nov 2011

Face to face

Carl-Johann

Johannsen

CEO Internexium,

Denmark

04 Nov 2011

Email

correspondence

Nimmi

Rangaswamy

Associate Researcher Microsoft

Research, India

01 Nov 2011

Net – Skype

Community Leaders Interviewed:


George Sigar

Dima

Local Community

Leader / Manager

ABC

International,

Kenya

01 Dec 2011

Face to face

Douglas Namale Mapper / Journalist Map Kibera,

Kenya

22 Nov 2011

Face to face

Javis Ochieng Mapper / Journalist Map Kibera,

Kenya

22 Nov 2011

Face to face

Wiltah Ombese Community Activist 25 Nov 2011

Face to face


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60

Citizen Focus Group Interviewed:


Dennis Resident, Mathare 4A Citizen Focus

Group

26 Nov 2011

Face to face

Joseph Resident, Mathare 4A Citizen Focus

Group

26 Nov 2011

Face to face

Morris Resident, Mathare 4A Citizen Focus

Group

26 Nov 2011

Face to face

Nelson Resident, Mathare 4A Citizen Focus

Group

26 Nov 2011

Face to face

Nickson Resident, Mathare 4A Citizen Focus

Group

26 Nov 2011

Face to face

Grace Nyagoa Resident, Mathare 4A,

Former Structure Owner

Citizen Focus

Group

26 Nov 2011

Face to face

Beatrice Otieno Resident, Mathare 4A Citizen Focus

Group

26 Nov 2011

Face to face

Beryl Ouko Resident, Mathare 4A Citizen Focus

Group

26 Nov 2011

Face to face

Berine Osoro Resident, Mathare 4A Citizen Focus

Group

26 Nov 2011

Face to face

Richard Resident, Mathare 4A Citizen Focus

Group

26 Nov 2011

Face to face

Wilfred Resident, Mathare 4A Citizen Focus

Group

26 Nov 2011

Face to face

Organizations surveyed:


Abdul Kassim Director Kibera Girls Soccer

Academy

08 Nov 2011

Electronic survey

John Ngare Executive Director LEPTA

Community, Kibera

08 Nov 2011

Electronic survey

Samuel Musyoke Strategic Director

of Programs

Plan International,

Kenya

28 Oct 2011

Electronic survey

Susan Cross President / Founder Project Chance

Africa Inc. Kenya

29 Oct 2011

Electronic survey

Janet Brubacher Country Director Save the Children,

Kenya

07 Nov 2011

Electronic survey

Emely Smith Field Worker The Turning Point

Trust, Kenya

08 Nov 2011

Electronic survey

Jon Parsons Field Director The Turning Point

Trust, Kenya

08 Nov 2011

Electronic survey

Lydia Sabina Volunteer

Coordinator

Kibera, UK 30 Nov 2011

Electronic survey


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61

Appendix B – Survey questions

Five different surveys were made to target different groups. Those groups included local

community leaders, NGOs, IGOs, geo-spatial organizations and mobile operators and

manufacturers.

Group A. Local community leaders

Find out the role the community leaders in Mathare and Kibera have played in the slum

upgrading process and how and if their input has been included. Attempts will be made

to identify at which level in the Ladder of Participation their involvement currently is.

Basic information:

1. What is your name?

2. Where do you live?

3. What is your email address?

Questions related to slum upgrading and community participation in Kenya:

4. Are you aware of the slum upgrading that is happening in Kenya?

- Yes

- No

5. If you answered yes to question 4, do you know what is being

upgraded?

6. Where do you get your information on slum upgrading from?

- Community meetings

- Advertising/posters

- Other

7. Have you been invited to participate in the Kenya slum upgrading

process?

- Yes

- No

8. If you answered yes to question 7, please explain what upgrading

project you are part of.

9. Have you attended any community meetings (related to slum

upgrading)?

- Yes

- No


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62

10. If you answered yes to question 9, explain what meeting.

11. Do you feel like your voice is being heard or taken into

consideration?

- Yes

- No

Questions related to mobile phones:

12. Do you have access to a mobile phone and internet?

- Yes

- No

13. If you would get a questionnaire through a mobile phone, would you

answer?

- Yes

- No

14. If you answered no to question 12, would you answer if you got paid

for it in the form of free phone minutes?

- Yes

- No

15. Finally, are there any other things you would like to raise in regards

to the topics of this research?

Group B. Governmental and inter-governmental organization

Find out the actual state of the upgrade process and how much community participation

and physical mapping has occurred. In particular, the survey will look at how the

information gathered is being utilized to influence the upgrade process.

Basic information:

1. What is the name of your organization/ministry?

2. What is your name, role or title?

3. What is your email?

4. Does your organization/ministry have a website?

5. Is your organization/ministry public or private?

6. Briefly explain your organization/ministry activity.


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63

Questions related to slum upgrading and community participation:

7. Please specify the role that your organization/ministry has in slums.

8. Is your organization/company involved in activities related to slum

upgrading and citizen participation?

- Yes

- No

9. Can you describe to me the role of citizen participation in the slum

upgrade process?

10. What are the main factors limiting citizen involvement in the slum

upgrade process?

Questions related to slum upgrading and the use of GIS and mobile technology:

11. How are maps being utilized as part of the slum upgrade process?

12. If maps are being created, are they being openly shared with the

community?

13. Can you describe to me what role GIS technology plays in the slum

upgrade process?

14. Is mobile technology or internet being utilized as part of the slum

upgrade process to reach more citizens? If so, then please provide

details; if not, why?

15. Is mobile technology or internet being utilized as part of other

government processes to increase citizen participation? If so, then

please provide details; if not, why are these technologies not being

utilized in slum upgrade projects?




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64

Group C. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs)

Find out how non-governmental organizations are involved in the slum upgrade process

and identify the role they play in community involvement. Look at whether their voice

is being heard in the upgrading process and if they get any say in the development of the

surrounding they work in.

Basic information:

1. What is the name of your organization?



4. Does your organization have a website?

5. Is your organization public or private?

6. Briefly explain your organization activity.

Questions related to participation in the slums:

7. Please specify the role that your organization has in slums.

8. Is your organization involved in activities related to slum upgrading

and citizen participation?

9. If your organization does not work in slum upgrading, could you

describe briefly how you think your organization could help in

citizen participation and slum upgrading.

10. Have you been invited to participate in the Kenya slum upgrading

project?

11. Do you know what is being upgraded?

12. Where do you get your information on slum upgrading from?

13. Have you attended any community meetings related to slum

upgrading?

- Yes

- No

14. Do you feel like the voice of your organization is being heard or

taken into consideration?

- Yes

- No


______________________________________________________________________

65


15. How do you see technology, such as mobile phones, playing a role

in increasing citizen participation in the slum upgrade process?

16. If you got a questionnaire via mobile phone, would you participate?

- Yes

- No



Group D. Geo-spatial organizations

Find out what type of mapping technologies are currently being used in slums and how

they are being applied towards slum upgrades and community participation, if at all.

Look at if there are opportunities for improved use of mapping technologies within slum

upgrade programs.

Basic information:

1. What is the name of your organization/company?



4. Does your organization/company have a website?

5. Is your organization/company public or private?

6. Briefly explain your organization/company activity.

Questions related to slum upgrading:

7. Please specify the role that your organization/company has in slums.


upgrading and/or citizen participation?

- Yes

- No

9. If you answered yes to question 8, please describe briefly some of

your successful projects related to slum upgrading and/or citizen

participation.

10. If you answered yes to question 8, in what countries does your

organization/company work in slum upgrading?

11. If you answered yes to question 8, in what countries does your

organization/company work on community participation?


______________________________________________________________________

66

12. If your organization/company does not work in slum upgrading,

could you describe briefly how you think your

organization/company could help in citizen participation and slum

upgrading?

Questions related to GIS and mobile use:

13. Are you aware of what type of mapping technology is being used in

slum upgrading projects around the world?

14. Are you targeting slum areas in particular when collecting aerial

imagery? (Google maps/Bing maps)

15. What is being mapped within slums?

16. For how long have you or your partners/customers been mapping

slums?

17. How do you think mapping could help improving people’s lives in

slums?

18. What are the maps you are creating going to be used for?

19. How are you implementing your project?

20. How much staff is required for this project?

21. How many volunteers are needed?

22. Are there any new projects you have been thinking about or would

like to try?

23. Are the maps you are creating going to be used by the government or

non-governmental organizations?

24. Are maps of slums created by the government being made openly

available?

25. How could GIS technology be further utilized for works in the

slums?

26. Are you aware of mobile phones being used in the mapping process?




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67

Group E. Mobile operators and manufacturers

Find out how mobile phone usage in slums compares to other urban areas, especially

looking at usage within Kibera and Mathare. Look at whether there are examples of

mobile technologies being used for community involvement. Identify potential

opportunities for further use of mobile technologies in the slum upgrade programs.

Basic questions:

1. What is the name of your organization/company?



4. Does your organization/company have a website?

5. Briefly explain your organization/company activity.


6. Approximately how many cellphone users do you have in Nairobi?

7. Are the slum dwellers included in those numbers?

- Yes

- No

8. Do you know approximately how many people use cellphones in the

slums?

9. Do you have any examples of mobile technology being used in

surveys in the slums?

10. Is there a possibility to target the slums specifically via mobile

technology?

- Yes

- No

11. Do you have any data on what the phones are used for in the slums?

- Voice calls

- Messaging

- mPesa

- Other

12. Is there an estimated number of phones with access to the internet in

Nairobi or specifically in the slums?

13. Do you know of examples of mobile technology being used to

improve the conditions within the slums?


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68


upgrading and citizen participation?

- Yes

- No

15. If you answered yes to the previous question, please describe briefly

some of your successful projects related to slum upgrading and

citizen participation.

16. In what countries does your organization/company work in slum

upgrading?

17. If your organization/company does not work in slum upgrading,

could you describe briefly how you think your company could help

in citizen participation and slum upgrading?

18. How do you see mobile technology potentially being utilized? (Can

you think of any ways you could utilize mobile technology more?)



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